Warhammer 40000: Inquisition Games
by Kalenath Shok-Tan
Summary: The Inquisition of the Imperium of Man is many things. 'Nice' is not one of them. This is a fanfiction. I own none of the rights to Warhammer 40000 or Warhammer 40000 Inquisitor Martyr.
1. Chapter 1

+++++++++++++++++To: Inquisitor Lord Grigori Maldor+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

+++++++++++++++++Subject: Request for Inquisition Presence ++++++++++++++++++++++++++

+++++++++++++++++Location: St. Abelard Relay Station, Chernobog System, Tenebra Sector+++++++

* * *

St. Abelard Relay Station

Secure Medicae Facility 12AlephSigma9

Everyone made way.

Guards, nurses, doctors, servitors. _Everyone_ made space.

He walked through the ornate halls like the a grim specter. In form, he was human. He wore ornate armor and carried weapons even here in the heart of one of the largest space station that graced the Imperium holdings in the Chernobog system. He wore no helm, but his face was almost as expressive as a power armor face plate might have been. His shaved head bore intricate tattoos as well as arcane tech that no one dared to look at too closely. No one wanted to draw his attention. No matter how firm one might be in one's own sanctity or innocence, when confronted by such raw power? One tended to get a bit circumspect if one had any sense at _all_.

Innocence meant little to Inquisitors after all. Sanctity even less.

He ignored the looks as beneath him, his hands resting on his belt. No one missed that one hand was bare millimeters from the butt of his holstered bolt pistol. The other was folded not far form the hilt of his sword. Those was the least of his weapons but few knew the depths to which he had been forced to sink on occasion. Few would ever know just how far Ricardo Illusmar had gone and would go in defense of the Imperium of Man from all of its myriad enemies. That was his job, to do that which no one else could. To be a light to shine into the darkest of places. Not a very safe job, but one that he had wholeheartedly embraced a very long time ago.

The Imperium of Man had been beset from its earliest history by many different foes. Some of those enemies had given the Emperor _himself_ pause as blasphemous as that thought was to most. The Imperium of today was a bleeding, dying shadow of its once great self. Even the almost totally implausible return of Roboute Guilliman, the Primarch of the Ultramarines, the all but impossible victories that the mighty primarch had achieved did little but stave off the endless horrors that lurked waiting to pounce on any unwary soul. Heretics, traitors, xenos, all of these assailed the Imperium daily and no one could count them all. It was madness to even try.

But even with all of its enemies, the Imperium did not lack for defenders. The Ultramarines were merely one of countless chapters of Adeptes Astartes. Each chapter a thousand strong brotherhood of Space Marines, genetically enhanced super soldiers whose sole purpose as to fight the battles that no one else could to defend the Imperium from horror unimaginable to most. The Astra Militarum, the various branches of the Imperial Guard served as a more numerous if less well equipped and trained defense to cover all of the places that the never numerous enough Space Marines could not be. The Adeptes Arbites, the Adeptas Sororitas,... The list of defenders went on and on.

Behind them all however, always in secret, always in silence there lurked the Inquisition.

The war in the shadows was just as deadly, if not more so, than the overt wars being fought across planetary systems. No one would ever know how many threats the Inquisition faced. How many times they succeeded. How many times they failed. No one could _ever_ know.

He stalked towards the desk that was his goal and even the data savant installed in the gate that barred the way there seemed to wilt a little. The scribe beside the savant paled as Ricardo came to a stop in front of her. Her desk sat higher than any others in the area, so she was in charge of this section of the Administratum. Her uniform had more doodads than the others too, not that such meant much. He had been few place where the more dourly dressed a person had been, the higher their rank. The planetary governor had actually gone around clad only in a paint covered _smock_ of all things! That memory almost had him smiling. That mission had gone well.

"Ah… sir?" The scribe actually squeaked.

Instead of answering, Ricardo held out a scroll that the scribe took gingerly. As if he would trap such a thing! Well, he had _once_ , but that had been an extremely odd situation. An errant memory, quickly excised. He waited as she inserted the scroll into her reader and stared at the words that ran across her screen. He fought hard not to sigh. Moron. He could read her screen from this side in the reflections on her brightly polished buttons. If that scroll had been classified material, he would have had to shoot her here and now for failure to adhere to basic security concerns. Admittedly, this was a hospital, not a prison or a military facility, but sloppiness like that got people killed. Or worse, _didn't_ get them killed.

"I see." The scribe said slowly. "All of the proper forms seem to be attached." Again, Ricardo had to fight not to sigh. He detested sloppiness and inefficiency and it seemed that was all he saw these days. He had done everything that the idiot bureaucrats had demanded as long as it did not violate security. But she was speaking again. "Um, sir. This is a 'no weapon' facility."

Ricardo just looked at her and the woman seemed to want to be anywhere but where she was. There was no way he would walk around unarmed. Simply no way. He was ordered to be here and he would not let this scribe dictate anything to him. He always had better results when he let others do the talking. It was amazing how much information the common folk would let slip if he simply played the silent type. The hand that was close to his sword reached up and flashed an ornate ring at her. She stared at the sigil of the Inquisition and paled even further. If she paled much more, she was going to faint. Not his problem, if mildly amusing.

"Sir." The scribe managed a squeak as Ricardo looked at her. "My Lord Inquisitor… I..."

"Exceptions can be made in extreme circumstances." Ricardo had worked hard to learn to keep his voice mild and calm in almost any situation. "This says I am authorized to carry weapons in any Imperial facility, does it not?"

"Ah." The scribe nodded so fast that he was amazed her head did not fly off her shoulders. He had actually seen… Another errant memory. He would have to get another mind scrub. He heaved a mental sigh. He hated those.

"I suggest you tell the Head Administrator that I am here." Ricardo was aware of a commotion to the side as a very large and pompous looking human strode into view, only to freeze at the sight of Ricardo bracing the scribe. Ricardo's eyes tracked onto the man like a pair of lance batteries and the man seemed ready to gibber. The he recovered and Ricardo had to admire the man's sudden change from moron to actual professional. There was more to the Administrator than met the eye. Then again there always was and Illusmar did not have time to ferret out the details here and now, nor the inclination. "Here he is now. Head Administrator Knoth, I presume?"

"Ah… Inquisitor?" The man recovered his poise at the shock of seeing Illusmar armed and armored on his doorstep. He nodded. "Exception 34, Z Bravo, Scribe Fairbanks."

"Yes sir!" The scribe all but fell over herself as she hit keys fast. The gate beside her desk rose and she nodded to the Inquisitor. Ricardo ignored her as he walked towards the fat man who nodded to him.

"You asked for Inquisition presence, Administrator Knoth." Ricardo said quietly as he came to a stop beside the man. "My time is limited."

"You know this is a secure facility." Knoth nodded and started off into hallway. Ricardo followed, his inertial tracking software would map his route, leaving him to focus on the man he was following. His data screens were picking up all kinds of chatter, most of it encrypted with far higher than normal for an Imperial space station. Ricardo did not reply and the Administrator continued. "We handle a lot of things that most of the citizens have no need to know about." Again, Ricardo felt no need to reply. "We had an incident in a secure ward eight days ago."

"What kind of incident?" Ricardo asked and the other man flushed.

"A classified one." The Administrator allowed and Ricardo's estimation of the man's intelligence rose again. The administrator might look like a buffoon, but he wasn't one. "I cannot go into details, but I can say a subject broke containment."

Again, a very smart man, if he _had_ divulged classified information in public, even to an Inquisitor, Ricardo would have shot him on the spot.

"Is the subject loose?" That might be a good reason to call for an Inquisitor, if what Ricardo suspected was true. Common citizens, even Imperial Guard, had less than no chance against many of the more subtle forms of evil that lurked amongst the stars. Just the thought of a Genestealer or Tau mind control specialist loose on this station would give most Imperial citizens nightmares. There were far worse things too.

"No." The Administrator said with a nod. Not too quick, not too slow. He knew the dangers too. He held out a dataslate to the Inquisitor who took it. The encryption were current and Ricardo felt surprise as he perused it. It was a one use device, designed to flash itself into uselessness after use. He scanned the information quickly and then nodded.

The facility hadn't actually done anything wrong. They had followed procedures laid down for dealing with odd things. When a human crew member from a passing ship had fallen ill with a strange sickness, they had quarantined him quickly enough that no other humans on station showed signs of infection. Ricardo noted the ship's name in passing, he would check up on that as a matter of course. The Inquisition had entire armies of scribes dedicated to finding leads in the literally planet sized reams of data they collected. The subject had exhibited strange mutations including some psyker like abilities. He had slaughtered the doctors and nurses in the ward he had bee assigned, a depressingly familiar sight to the hardened Inquisitor. And some people actually wondered why mutants were to be feared? He fought hard not to sigh again.

The dataslate's information was sparse, but it ended with a date of termination and an order for cremation.

"So, what is the problem?" Ricardo absently crushed the dataslate as it sparked fitfully and started to smoke.

"The problem, Inquisitor..." The Administrator did sigh. "..is that _we_ did not stop the subject." Ricardo looked at him and the fat human shook his head. "We sealed the ward as per procedure and called for a response team. They would have arrived next week." Ricardo made a 'get on with it' noise and the man continued. "The door was unsealed from the _inside_." At that, Ricardo suddenly tensed and the Administrator nodded. "We, justifiably, freaked."

"Hard to blame you." Ricardo allowed and the Administrator relaxed just a little. "But the subject was, is, dead?"

"We expanded the quarantine as per protocol and sent in servitors." The Administrator said quietly. "Gun bots and recon drones. They found the subject dead. What was left of him."

"And?" Ricardo prompted as the Administrator led him to another room. This one had a wall screen that was streaming data. A large monitor showed a room? Cell? In it, a black haired human woman was strapped to a bed, her face oddly calm despite several lethal looking machines aiming at her. "What is this?" He asked.

"That is the only other survivor of the ward." The administrator said quietly. "She was listed as Nurse K Aspirant." Ricardo stared at the woman. Was she familiar? No. But _something_ about her was. Something in the Administrators' words struck a chord.

"Falsified?"

"Yes." Knoth blew out a deep breath. "It took three days of close perusal to determine that her records were fake."

"And?" Ricardo pressed.

"And no one knows who she is, how she got here, where she came from or how she smuggled a bolt pistol into the ward." Knoth said quietly. Ricardo stared at him and the Administrator nodded. "I was kind of hoping that she was one of yours."

"I cannot say." That was strictly pro forma. Ricardo wasn't about to divulge Inquisitorial secrets to this Administrator. Such would be hazardous to _his_ health. "What do you want me to do? You have her in custody already."

"We have interrogated her." The Administrator's face showed distaste now. "She resisted."

Ricardo looked at the man and then at the screen. Now that he was looking, he could see the signs of crude interrogation on the woman's few exposed body parts. If she _was_ Inquisition then such was to be expected. If she was not? No. If she was Inquisition, she would have identified herself as such unless… He shook his head. Such meandering was pointless She wasn't going anywhere. He could simply _ask_.

"Of course she did." Ricardo mused. "So, do you want information or something else?"

"She is a loose end." The Administrator said just as mildly as Ricardo worked so hard to manage. "I would appreciate it tidied up. If she is one of yours? All well and good, but her cover is well and truly blown along with the subject's brains. If she is _not_ …?" He trailed off as Ricardo nodded slowly.

"If she is not, then she becomes my problem." Ricardo allowed. "Fair enough. I will take the mystery off your hands. I will need a secure room to talk to her." He paused. "Totally secure."

To his credit again, the Administrator did not quibble. "I cannot guarantee total security, Inquisitor." He wasn't making excuses, just stating fact. "We both know how many security holes exist." He paused. "Well, I know how many _I_ think exist." Ricardo just looked at him and the administrator nodded. "We have a Void shield room for our more volatile experiments." At _that_ , Ricardo's eyebrows shot up and the Administrator nodded. "We do some high energy experiments and ward the tests carefully."

"The kind of tests that might blow a hole in the side of the station from the middle of it?" The Inquisitor inquired. The Administrator did not respond and Ricardo shook his head. He didn't need to know. If such a room did exist, then such shield energies would be proof against almost anything, including outbound transmissions of any kind. No way to use high tech means to spy in _there_.

Just what he needed to have a chat with a mystery.

"I will talk to her."

* * *

A few minutes later

He followed the heavy duty cables that led from the power generators to the room. The multiple armed servitors around him ignored him as he stalked forward. Part of him was wondering if this was a trap of some kind. It was entirely possible. Anything could be a trap. But this didn't feel like a trap. He had walked into many in his career, including several that nearly ended his career. This felt more like a mystery than a trap. The door ahead of him opened and the Inquisitor stalked forward, only to pause as a pair of servitors pushing a bed moved out the door. He stared at them and then moved to the side. Arguing with servitors was foolishness. They didn't have the brainpower to reply generally. If they _did_? You had problems.

Ricardo moved to the door and peered inside. The young woman, almost a girl, was curled up in one corner, her eyes intent on the door. She had apparently been dropped on the floor and left there. She was wearing a thin gown and some wires, nothing more. She was praying as she lay curled up on the floor. And what she was saying...

That was it! He knew those prayers. And the familiarity suddenly clicked into place. He knew what she was. The answer to that question led to more questions. Lots more. He shook his head and stepped into the room. Her prayers cut off as if with a knife and her eyes went huge as he drew his bolt pistol, laid it on the floor and kicked it to skitter across the way to stop in front of her.

"Feel free." Ricardo said quietly. "I won't stop you." The girl looked at the pistol and then at Ricardo, her face unreadable. She didn't move. "Was he your target?"

"Inquisitor." The unknown woman said softly. Ricardo nodded. "What?"

"Are you done?" Ricardo asked. "Is your mission complete?"

"What do you want?" The girl didn't move to touch the weapon.

"Right now? I want an answer." Ricardo drew his backup weapon. The girl's eyes bulged as the small plasma pistol started to hum as he aimed it at her. "Am I your target?"

"What?" The girl wasn't feigning that confusion. There was simply no way.

"You know I could shoot you right now." Ricardo said quietly, his aim true. "No one will miss you." The girl met his eyes and the fire there had him almost smiling. This girl had spirit. "Everyone who was in that ward is dead. _You_ are dead."

"I have been dead for a long time." The girl said with a growl. "Go ahead, shoot. I won't play your games."

She was going to go for the bolt pistol he had given her. He knew she was. It was only a matter of when. He was impressed when she did move. She was _fast_. Her gown was tossed as a distraction and she was scooping the pistol up before he could get a clear shot. He could have fired through the flying gown and nailed her easily, but there was no need. The electrical discharge unit built into the bolt pistol, like all Inquisition weapons, reacted to an unknown user attempting to handle it in its usual fashion. She didn't even have time to scream as the less than lethal energy knocked her instantly unconscious. He didn't want her _dead_ after all.

"No?" Ricardo moved to toe the woman's still form. Then he bent to pick up his pistol before kneeling against to brush the woman's long black hair away from her face. He found what he thought. What he had taken for a mark from clumsy interrogation was actually old scar tissue where something on her face had been surgically excised. Add the prayers to that and you only had one possible explanation.

"The game is afoot, my dear Sororitas."


	2. Chapter 2

**Rules**

"Aw, bloody _hell!_ No. Not _again!_ "

Ricardo smirked as he entered the shuttle that he normally called home while away from his void ship. It wasn't much, just a flight deck and a cargo compartment but neither of those were anything that the tech priests who had built the ship long ago would recognize. His pilot stood at the hatch, staring at the servitor who was carrying the unconscious woman up the ramp.

"What part of 'Never again' was unclear, sir?"

The uniformed woman was not quite being rude. She knew exactly how far to push and when it was time to stop. That said, he prized his crew for their reliability not their politeness. Even here, even now, in a secured hangar on a loyal space station, Master Sergeant Lisa Korniazal held her lasgun in a ready grip. It never left her side even when she slept.

"It's not the same, Sergeant," Ricardo said as the servitor laid the unconscious woman down and made its clanking way back down the ramp. At least they had wrapped her in a sheet for this, not that Ricardo was a prude or anything.

"Didn't the last time you bring home a stray teach you anything?" The woman demanded as Ricardo picked the woman up and strapped her into a chair.

"This one is not a stray." Ricardo wasn't angry. If anything, he was amused. Lisa was a lot of things, politically correct was not one of them.

"Sir..." The woman groaned as she pulled the hatch lever and it sealed behind him.

Only then did Ricardo relax a bit. He finished checking the unknown woman's vitals and rose to face his upset pilot. She would keep, the sedative he had given her would keep her unconscious for some time and even if by some miracle, she did wake? He paused and then bent down again. Ricardo slapped a small device to the back of her skull where it adhered. The device would warn him if she moved and allow him to shock her into compliance if needed. He shook his head as he rose again and turned to Lisa.

"This is not the same." Ricardo said mildly. Lisa stiffened and her face blanked. He bit back a sigh. "Sergeant, at ease."

Lisa relaxed a little, but not much. He didn't mind it when his subordinates spoke their minds. Not at all. It was far better than being surrounded by 'yes men'. But Lisa's upbringing and training denied her the ability to speak back to superiors in most cases.

As always, she was perfectly turned out. _Bathed_ even! He knew her blonde hair would be cut in a perfect buzz cut. Only the scars on her pale face were not regulation. The impeccably shined boots, the crisply pleated blue pants, the almost gaudy looking blue jacket with the golden epaulets topped off with the gold rimmed blue pointed cap. All of these put together were nothing like the normal look that Imperial citizens assumed for Imperial Guardswomen. The array of medals on her chest spoke of long service. She looked like some kid's fantasy of a toy soldier, but she was far more than that. The Mordian Iron Guard was famed across the galaxy for their steadfast loyalty and discipline. Entire armies had broken on their crisply dressed ranks. Deamons, traitors, heretics, they all had fallen under the Mordian Iron Guard's onslaught. That said; they were human, and mortal.

Lisa was the only survivor of her regiment. It had been lost along with several others to a badly bungled campaign on a forgotten world. Ricardo had been hunting a heretical cult at the time and his hunt had taken him to that world. He had found Lisa about to be eaten by their cannibalistic shaman leader. She had survived on her own on that Emperor forsaken world for almost two years before the cult had captured her. Putting a blessed bolt round through that monster's brain had been a good thing. Finding Lisa alive and sane had been a better thing. He had been making do with servitors as pilots. They were workable, but Lisa was far, far better at surviving things than any servitor could possibly be. Add her piloting ability and she was a perfect match for his retinue. She had served him well even before he had orders cut for her. She was utterly loyal to him and the Imperium. She didn't talk to _anyone_ else. She had shot two men trying to press her for information.

One odd thing? Her boots had been just as shiny when she had been about to be eaten as they were now.

"Yes, sir." Lisa allowed, her back still straight. A small crinkle around her eyes would have been a smile for anyone of lesser discipline. "You know Doc is going to flip."

"I fully admit my mistake." Ricardo said with a sigh as he sat. The seat had been built specifically for him in armor and was far larger than a normal one. Lisa spun on her heel and _marched_ to the cockpit where she too sat and started her preflight checks. She was good enough to carry on a conversation at the same time. She had been a damn good Valkyrie pilot according to the records he had found from her regiment. "I thought we could use more muscle."

"We warned you." Lisa muttered not even close to under her breath. When she was in the cockpit, she was in command and her demeanor changed quite a bit. He could see her at the controls of a gunship, laying waste to entire squads of enemies with the massive firepower at her disposal. She wasn't arrogant, not quite. Just a confidence that bordered on it.

"Yes, you did, sergeant." Ricardo leaned back in his seat. "That said? This woman is an enigma. She was working a nurse in the facility. She was assigned to a secure ward that had a subject break loose and slaughter the staff."

" _Her?_ " The pilot demanded, spinning in her seat. He knew Lisa's hand would be on her laspistol.

"No." Ricardo reassured the pilot. "She killed the subject with a pistol she smuggled in." The Mordian Iron Guard's legendary discipline kept Lisa's jaw from falling, but he could see it was a struggle. "I have reason to believe she is or _was_ a Sororitas."

"A Sister of _Battle?_ " Lisa's hands were back on her console even as she stared at Ricardo. The engines hummed and then they were in motion. Such was Lisa's skill, to multitask that way. Not many pilots could do such, but Lisa had benefited from her service to the Inquisitor almost as much as he had benefited from her. Inquisition issue equipment, such as piloting implants, were far, far better than most anything found outside of Mars. "What was she doing _here_?"

"I don't know." Ricardo admitted. "She is a mystery. Add to that, if she _is_ Sororitas, she will be resistant to any normal interrogation and psyker interrogation simply fails on them most of the time." He shook his head. "She impressed me."

"Doc is going to flip right out." Lisa warned again.

"Doc is excitable." Ricardo sighed and closed his eyes. He would nap for the rest of the short trip. He needed to be ready.

It would get loud when they arrived back home.

* * *

An hour later

"WHAT THE SODDIN' HELL IS THIS?"

The shout was totally familiar. Ricardo woke up as swiftly and completely as he ever did. His implants always let him sleep exactly as long as he wished and be ready to fight or flee instantly on waking. That had saved his life and soul on more than one occasion. As expected, Lisa had landed the ship perfectly in the small hangar bay that it called home. Also as expected, his retinue had assembled to greet him. He looked at his 'guest' but she slumbered on. Lisa sat in her cockpit, her hands flying over the controls. From her posture? She wasn't going to move until Ricardo dealt with the mess.

Ricardo rose and strode to the hatch. Outside, his team was assembled, if such a word could be used for such a group. Calling this team irregular was an insult to the word 'irregular'. He nodded to them and faced the loud one.

"Doc." Ricardo shook his head at the red faced human. "This isn't the same."

"Another stray! You promised!" The human in the greasy coveralls speared a finger at Ricardo. "You _promised!_ "

"I did." Ricardo allowed. "Doc, it isn't the same situation. She is not going to make the same mess Krep did." He winced. "Not physically possible."

"I was cleaning _vomit_ out of the machinery for six weeks!" Doc shouted. "Six! Void! **Damned!** _ ** WEEKS** **!**_ "

For a pure bred human, Doc had quite a set of lungs. He was not shy about using them either. Only the fact that he was the best at analyzing odd and ancient tech within at least a hundred light years kept him out of trouble with his superiors. Ricardo cut him a lot of slack and if the Inquisitor was perfectly honest? The man had a point. That had been a _hell_ of a mess in so many ways and Doc had been forced to clean most of it up since the rest of the team had been busy.

"I admitted my mistake and yes, I will never, _ever_ , allow another Ogryn on the ship if I have _any_ say in it at all." Ricardo said with a sigh. Doc sputtered some more, but Ricardo turned to the others. "We need to get underway to our next assignment. Doc, it is not the same. I didn't lie to you."

Doc stared at him and then slowly relaxed, still muttering under his breath. He spun on his heel and stalked off, obviously still angry. The others watched him go with various expressions of amusement and distaste.

"You handled that well." Captain Mainwaring was a redoubtable figure with his huge feathered cap. Not quite the larger than life space brigand he pretended to be for the masses, he worked generally as an actual legitimate transporter. Very few knew that he _also_ worked for the Inquisition. The few who tried to run from or steal from the ship never to the chance to talk about what actually happened aboard.

"I am but human." Ricardo nodded to the captain. "I make mistakes. Hiring Krep was a mistake." He shuddered. "I should have listened when all the vets told me that Ogryns and advanced tuning of the Gellar fields don't mix. I fixed my mistake, and his body won't ever be found." He shook his head. "We need to get underway. Between this detour and all of the surges, we are behind schedule."

The Caligari sector was renowned for the difficulty of warp travel within it. Warp travel was never easy or safe, but this sector took it to new heights. Surges of Immaterium swept back and forth across the sector, denying entire systems access to the interstellar trade that formed the lifeblood of the Imperium. That led to a lot of dark times. Hence why Ricardo was here along with so many other agents Inquisitor. There was lots to do.

"On it." The captain saluted, spun on his heel with a flourish that Lisa herself couldn't have bettered and walked off, head held high. He wasn't the actual captain. No one outside the void ship knew who the actual captain was and Ricardo preferred it that way. The Inquisition bent if not outright broke a lot of the rules, but there _were_ limits.

"So, what is the deal?" The man asking could have stepped right out of a pitfighting ring. He was as large in fatigues as Ricardo was in armor and most of it was muscle. The shield he carried seemed as much part of him as his broken teeth were. Then again, the man unimaginatively named Mace had been an Arbiter, dealing with the worst of undercity hive gangs on a regular basis. He was at home with a shotgun as he was with a sword and shield. "Why did you have to go?"

"The usual weirdness. Why else?" A snide voice said from the side and Ricardo had to smile at the man who had spoken. Lornan Ezilus had been a lot of things in his life. Hacker, thief, spy, the list wen ton and on. Then one day, he had been picked up during an Inquisitorial search for heretics. He wasn't one, but he hadn't wanted to stay and argue the point. When they had come to drag him to interrogation, his cell had been empty. Two years and uncounted hours of searching later, Ricardo had caught up to the man in a sleazy warehouse. Then, to the human's amazement, instead of putting a bolt round through his skull, Ricardo had offered him a job. He could go anywhere and do almost anything, usually unnoticed. An always useful ability for agents who wished to maintain a low profile. Any Inquisitor who wanted to live very long knew that there were times to be loud and times not to be. Lornan _excelled_ at the latter.

"This time it is a little weird even for us." Ricardo allowed. "The woman is the sole survivor of a Warp breach in one of the wards." Everyone winced at that. They had seen such far too often. "She shot the subject with a bolt pistol she must have smuggled in." Lornan whistled softly at that and nodded. Such was not easy to do. They had managed such things on several occasions, so they knew exactly how hard it was. "I got the pistol. It too is odd."

It had taken some fast talking, but he had managed to procure the weapon as 'evidence'. But he had to admit, he was stumped. It had no manufacture marks, which was insane. Any manufactorum always imprinted a maker's mark on everything made by them. It was both pride and sheer practicality. If flawed goods were delivered, the Imperium had to know who to blame, yes?

"I will take a look. Maybe get Doc in on it if he has calmed down." Lornan nodded. He was good at backtracking anything data related. He smiled. "Then again, odd tech always has a way of talking to him that we lack." Ricardo handed the weapon to him and Lornan took it carefully. Then the agent shook his head. "First impression? Not a standard design, but almost a Godwyn-De'az pattern." He shook his head again, his expression bemused. "Sized to fit a human hand, but nothing I have seen before."

"I have seen Godwyn-De'az pattern bolt weapons before." Ricardo agreed. The others looked curious, but kept their mouths shut. They knew better than to ask. He might _answer_ and they knew far too much for their own good already. "That said, yes. It not quite one of theirs. No markings."

"So, what are we to do with our new 'guest'?" The last member of his retinue spoke up and Ricardo bit back his immediate retort. He knew what the woman wanted to do. Her face was all but alive with lust. And not for any reason that most humans would consider 'sane'. As always she wore a gown. Stupid that. If the door opened and the force fields failed, then she was dead. But then again, Mary of Cadia had been dead from the moment the Inquisition had caught her. If only she wasn't so useful.

"No." Ricardo said flatly. "We will question her, but you will _not_ experiment. Am I clear?"

Both of the men stepped away from the woman beside them as Ricardo laid a hand on his holstered pistol. The woman facing him smiled.

"You can shoot me." Mary said with a grin. "You know you want to."

"Fine." Ricardo drew and fired in a single instant. The bolt hit her mid chest. The less than lethal taser round dropped her to the floor, every muscle spasming. He shook his head as he saw the woman's smile becoming beatific. He jacked the slide, loading a fresh round. That one was lethal. He holstered his pistol. "You may enjoy pain and you may like hurting people, but I will _not_ tolerate such unless I order it. Cross me and I will have your brain rewired to only feel _pain_ for a few years. Clear?"

This was in a tone that would be obeyed. Both men winced as the woman on the floor licked her lips in obvious ecstasy. Then again, when one cross wired one's pleasure centers to stimulate them? Odd things had been known to happen even if one was a talented and respected brain surgeon as Mary had been on Cadia. The only reason the Inquisition hadn't executed her when she had been caught? She never killed her subjects. They all lived. Admittedly, without skins on their heads and with less mind than toddlers always seeking their next fix of her potent brain juice, but they lived. Ricardo hadn't been one of the ones who had caught up with her and he was glad of that. He had simply been ordered to make use of her and he _was_ authorized to kill her if needed.

"Yes." Mary said through a wide smile. She rose to her feet, her eyes brimming with the ecstasy of her addiction.

"We need to know who she is, where she came from, and why she smuggled a weapon in there." Ricardo said with a glower that was wasted on the euphoria riding medical person. "I bet it will be a lot harder than simply asking and using psyker abilities around her may be a _very_ bad idea."

"Oh _shit_." Lornan paled as Ricardo nodded to him. "She…? Oh, um? Boss?" He retreated a step. "You know how they get!"

"I do indeed." Ricardo sighed deeply as Mary looked at him, confusion starting to war with her drug induced haze. Mace also inhaled sharply as realization struck and Ricardo nodded to him too. "We have a weapon sort of like what the Sisters of Battle carry. I heard her praying to the Emperor and she has a scar on her face where _something_ was removed. Probably a scar in the shape of a fleur de lis." Mary recoiled as if struck and Ricardo nodded. She actually looked shocked sober and that was scarier than almost anything else.

"Are you saying _she_ is-? No." Mary shook her head. She was very smart and at the moment, very _scared_. With reason. No one in his or her right mind angered the Sororitas, even the Inquisition. "You say she is a mystery. You don't know."

"No, and we need to find out."

"Carefully."


	3. Chapter 3

**Questions**

"And again, Mary..." Ricardo said with a glare. "No experimentation. Do it and I will shoot you with something that _won't_ make you happy."

He wasn't entirely satisfied with this setup. There was a lot of equipment that he could have wished for that was simply too bulky, too fragile or too irreplaceable to be allowed out of highly secure facilities. The medicae facility on the ship was adequate for most needs, but for more in depth services one was supposed to go to a full on medical facility. This was not something that could be taken to a regular medical facility, for any number of reasons.

"I heard you the first time." Mary replied a bit absently as she worked. "I do not want the Sororitas angry with me. So while I need another fix, I can do without long enough to get some answers." She sniffed a bit derisively as she fiddled with a scanner. "Although my methods are faster."

Ricardo did not reply even though that was true. Mary was a wiz when it came to brain chemistry. If he wanted a mind broken, the subject only able to count past ten with his or her shoes off? Then she was the one to call. But the _last_ thing he wanted to do was break this unknown woman's mind. For one thing, he needed answers to the questions she posed. For another? The other Sororitas might object and _that_ might get _very_ messy. They had _no_ scruples about relating their disapproval in most situations. The Inquisition at least tried to be a bit circumspect at times. The Sisters of Battle didn't _care_.

Hence a degree of caution that was rare for Ricardo and his team. Most of the time, they just did things, got the job done and left. Collateral damage was for scribes and bureaucrats. Ricardo was all about results.

He watched closely as Mary finished the hookups and started up the machinery. The mystery woman was restrained on the table as was normal, but there the similarities ended. This time, there were no interrogation tools laid out nearby. There was no machinery attached to her skull to allow for direct ripping of information out of it. There was no psyker ready to sift the mind for truths and falsehoods alike. The last psyker Ricardo had on his team had perished on the last mission. They had succeeded in finding and destroying a heretical cult of pain-pleasure seekers, but the cost had been dear. There had been an ambush. Grishal had been caught out of cover by the pair of Traitor Space Marines running the cult and torn to pieces in front of the team. Those scum had paid for their affronts to the Emperor, but Grishal was going to be hard to replace. Psykers were rare. Primaris psykers even more so. Primaris psykers that were both loyal and able to withstand the rigors of working with the Inquisition? Almost impossible to find quickly. They did exist, but it would take time to find one. Ricardo had put in a request as soon as he and his battered team had returned to the ship but he knew it would be a while.

"This is odd." Mary's bemused voice pulled Ricardo out of his momentary reverie. Ricardo glanced a sharply at her and she shook her head. "I don't know what Sororitas use for augmentation..." She broke off as Ricardo coughed. "Do you?"

"You don't want to know." Ricardo's quiet voice had Mary stiffening.

She stared at him and then bent back to her tasks, face grim. He stepped forward and perused the readouts. He was no medic or trained Biologus, but he had learned quite a bit over the years. The woman had no augmentation. _None._ He stared at the screen, perplexed. How the hell? Even the lowest menial in the darkest, drabbest manufactorum in the worst of places had _some_ augmentation. Even if it was simply a tracking and punishment chip, they had _something_. He didn't know everything the Sororitas had, but he knew they augmented their Sisters fairly thoroughly. The way he knew that was something he would never divulge to anyone. Safer for everyone.

"Did the facility take out her augmentation?" Ricardo asked after a moment's thought. That could be done with difficulty, but that medical facility had both the personnel and the equipment to do just that. Now as to _why_ they would do so? He had no idea.

"No." If anything, Mary seemed even more perplexed. "I am not showing signs of her _ever_ being augmented. No neural shunts. No skeletal reinforcement. No muscular additions. No _nothing_." Disbelief warred with disgust at such a thought. A human without any augmentation was simply meat. Prey for any number of horrors. No Sororitas would be out and about in such a condition. Not a chance.

"That makes no sense." Ricardo said slowly. "She was praying to the Emperor and..." He paused, thinking hard. "The scar on her cheek. Is it what I think?"

"There was definitely an older scar there." Mary was totally focused on her instruments. "I cannot tell what it was with any certainty. It might have been a fleur-de-lys. It might have been something else."

"Okay. Then we proceed as planned." Ricardo nodded as the doctor moved to stand by one wall. "Monitor only."

Mary nodded. They had 'discussed' things fairly thoroughly when Mary had been brought aboard. When she had recovered from injuries resulting from that discussion, they had discussed things again. Eventually, she _had_ learned that crossing Ricardo was a _bad idea_. Ricardo nodded to her and she hit a control. In moments the woman on the table groaned her way to consciousness.

"Good morning." Ricardo said with a nod to his 'guest. "My name is Ricardo Illusmar. You know what I am." He saw her try her bonds, but he wasn't worried. The woman was held in place by restraints that an Adeptes Astartes would have difficulty breaking. Ricardo nodded to her again as her mouth set in a grim line and she closed her eyes. She couldn't shake her head, but her denial was clear. "This can go several ways, my dear." Ricardo kept his voice friendly and calm. "Most of those will be very unpleasant for you. I am going to say something and you are not going to believe me, but it is true nonetheless: I do not want to hurt you."

A soft noise of disbelief came from the other before she controlled herself. Ricardo shrugged. He hadn't expected an immediate surrender to reality. She wasn't the type.

"Let me lay out what little I know." Ricardo said quietly as Mary watched her screens. "You infiltrated that medical facility for reasons unknown. You were armed. With no conceit intended, I am fairly conversant with weapons and your weapon is not one that I am familiar with. You are trained in resisting interrogations..." He paused and scoffed. "At least crude ones like the medical people did." He shook his head. "I mean, really? _Truth serums?_ _Hot irons?_ How _barbaric_."

The woman did not react and Ricardo smiled at her. It was not a nice smile.

"We have far better techniques for discovering truths." The Inquisitor said quietly. The woman still did not react and he continued. "But… We come to a problem point. You are an assassin. That is the only datum that fits the facts. Only an assassin would have had the means and the motive to sneak into a secure facility with a weapon such as this." He held up the bolt pistol he had gotten from the facility and her eyes twitched. She was watching him. Good. Again, he shook his head. "Now, to clarify, I don't have a problem with assassins as long as they are not targeting me. You were not. You were trying to escape, nothing more. Or..." He paused. "Would you have shot _me_ or _yourself?_ "

"Does it matter?" The woman asked, her tone ice cold. "Do what you will, Inquisitor. You will anyway."

Ricardo just looked at her, but inside, he was jumping for joy. They had done it. She was calm. Well, calmer. Mary was truly a wizard when it came to brain chemistry. The woman was awake, aware and responding. Just what Ricardo had wanted. Now, he just had to keep her talking. Something he was very good at.

"Probably." Ricardo said with a shrug. "That said, do I need to be rude about it? Name and rank." Mary did something where she stood and the woman on the table seemed to wilt a little.

"No." The woman replied even as a screen flared to life over her head. They couldn't directly access her mind without a psyker or a much more invasive and damaging process, but Mary knew all kinds of interesting cheats. Chemical markers were not as clear as psyker visions, but they were also far easier to read even though the skull and left no traces. A word appeared on the screen. No, a name. 'Kay'.

"Kay." Ricardo said softly. The woman on the table froze in place and then started thrashing in her bonds. "Now, now." He chided her gently. "Don't do that. We don't that pretty little body marred before your sisters arrive to collect you."

 _Bingo._ Ricardo fought back a smile as the woman on the table went totally still.

"What?" The woman -Kay?- asked slowly.

"Come on, my dear." Ricardo sounded bored now. "Carrying a bolt pistol. Praying to the Emperor. Mark on your face. You _really_ expect me to believe you are a _scribe_?" He snorted. "Nurse, yeah, you pulled that off. Where did you get your medical training?" A word appeared on the screen over her head. It was not a word he knew so he keyed for a translation. It turned out to be an insult in an extremely obscure form of Gothic that it took a moment for his onboard database to translate. Once it did, Ricardo actually laughed out loud. "Damn, woman. That is a good one. I will have to remember that one. Schweinhund." He repeated.

Her face was scrunched up and her mouth set in a grim line as words flowed across the screen endlessly. Her heart rate and blood pressure were spiking as well. That had to be intentional.

"So, either you are a Sororitas or you are pretending to be one." Ricardo spoke again, more to keep her mind occupied on him instead of what Mary was doing than to hear himself speak. "You either accomplished your mission or you did not. You are not of the Ordos that I am part of, nor are you affiliated with the Officio Assassinorum. Trust me, if you were, we would know."

He knew all of those signs of course. He personally had never been targeted by an Imperial assassin, but he knew of four Inquisitors who had been. None had survived. It was never spoken of openly, but the Inquisition did not trust anyone, so they had all kinds of data on the various assassin temples. This Kay _could_ be a Callidus assassin even now, but it was a vanishingly small chance. There was no residue of Polymorphine in her system. She certainly wasn't an Eversor or Culexus. There were far too few bodies in her wake for that to be the case. Nor a Vindicare. No. In that case, she wouldn't have been _seen_ , let alone _caught_.

"So." Ricardo allowed himself a grim smile. "That leaves you as a member of the Sororitas. But an odd one. If you were a Sister Militant, you would have augmentation. Or..." He paused as the woman laughed scornfully. "Yes?"

"You have no idea what you are playing with, Inquisitor." The woman said firmly. "You will pray for death before it comes and it will not be a quick or merciful one."

"More than likely." Ricardo allowed. The woman's eyes shot open and he smiled at her, a full, real smile for the first time. "Come, my dear. Do you really think I am really that clueless about my eventual fate?" Mary was staring at him as the woman on the table did the same. "I will fight the enemies of the Imperium until my final breath. It is what I do. But I am a realist as well. I am no Adeptes Astartes, and not even they are immortal."

"You mean that." The woman sounded shocked. Ricardo nodded. "That is..." She paused and sighed deeply. "Inquisitor, please do not call the Sororitas. It will cause far more problems than you can imagine."

"How so?" Ricardo backed up a step as the restraints surrounding the woman clicked open and she sat up! Impossible! She _couldn't have…_ Mary was reaching for a control to sound an alarm when her body froze in place.

"My name is Kay. Aspirant Kay. I am abhuman." The woman said sadly. "An abomination before the Emperor. My immortal soul is dust and I will never see his light."

"You are a psyker." Ricardo had both of his weapons in hand now for all the good they might do him. Both bolts and plasma had failed against psykers in the past. He hadn't thought to bring blessed ammo in here! "Why didn't you use your abilities on me before?"

"You are an Inquisitor, a servant of the Emperor." Kay was still quiet, calm. "While I may not agree with all of what the Imperium does, I serve the Emperor and you speak with his voice. I _would_ have shot _myself_. I thought only to hide, to run and hide. But that is not who I am. I am a daughter of the Emperor and I cannot live like this."

"You fled the Sororitas." Ricardo said slowly, his aim still true. The woman did not move to defend herself. Indeed she seemed to want him to fire. Maybe she did?

"No. I was discovered to be abhuman during my final trials for joining the militant arms. Unknowingly, I lashed out with my mind and grievously injured a sister. My sisters were justifiably upset. I was being remanded to a Black Ship." Kay said sadly. "The transport I and my escort were traveling on to meet the Black Ship was attacked by xenos corsairs. My escort was killed but I survived. I am not sure how."

"And the pistol?" Ricardo did not take his eyes from the woman in front of him. Mutant. Whatever she was.

"Sister Superior Nina had that on her body when I crawled out of the wreckage the xenos left." Kay's face was torn with remembered grief. "She was hard, but fair. Her faith was like adamantium. I wanted to be like her and I am not. I am not brave. I am skilled with cogitators, but no more. This horror that lurks within me must be expunged. Shoot, Inquisitor!"

"I have more questions." Ricardo was unsure about this. "How did you wind up at the medical facility?"

"There were other survivors." Kay said quietly. "They sent a distress call. The facility sent a rescue ship and by the time it had arrived, I had managed to cobble together an identity. I had basic medical training and I learn fast. Most of the facility is fairly secure, but their personnel department is not. With access to that office, fabricating an identity was fairly easy. That is all of your questions answered, no? Who I am, where I came from and why?"

"That was all of the questions I had at the time, yes." Ricardo took a chance and holstered his plasma pistol. "I have a lot more now." Kay slumped a bit and nodded. "Release Mary."

"Yes, sir." Kay sat on the table as Mary gasped and jerked towards the alarm, only to to have Ricardo stop her with a shake of his head.

"Inquisitor!" Mary protested, retreating as far from Kay as she could. "This thing must be purged." Kay nodded, her hands folded and her mouth moving in silent prayers.

"The Emperor moves in mysterious ways." Ricardo said softly as he kept his eyes on Kay. "You are far better controlled than most new psykers I have seen. Sororitas training?"

"I don't know." Kay admitted. "I don't feel what other sisters said the touch of the Emperor felt like. But I fear the darkness inside me. I am but mortal, Inquisitor. I cannot control such horror. No one can. Inquisitor, please?" She begged.

"The merciful thing to do would be to put a bolt round through your head." Ricardo ordinarily would have done just that by now. These were not ordinary circumstances. "I have seen far too many rogue psykers to know otherwise. But..." He sighed. "You have been asleep for over a day. I _did_ contact the nearest convent." Kay gasped and Ricardo nodded. "They are sending a delegation to collect you."

"To kill me." Kay said weakly.

"Quite probably." Ricardo slowly lowered his pistol and then holstered it. "They told me to and I quote 'take care of her until we get there and get answers if you can. Gently.'." Kay slumped so far it seemed she was in danger of falling off the table. "I know better than to anger them, Kay. Your life or death is _their_ prerogative. Not mine."

"But, you are an _Inquisitor!_ " Kay begged.

"And I know my limits." Ricardo shrugged as she shook her head. "Don't." He warned as she gathered herself. He drew his bolt pistol again and loaded a different magazine, shockers like what he had used on Mary before. "I will stun you again if I have to. They likely won't get angry about that, but they might. We can control you until they get here using drugs and other means, but I have zero leeway on this. You _will_ be alive until they get here."

"And then?" Kay lay back, tears falling as she fought for control.

"That is in the Emperor's hands, Kay." Ricardo said with a sigh. He did not holster his weapon. "Okay. Take it from the beginning and this time, we will record everything for the delegation. Who are you, where are you from and how did you get into the medical facility with a bolt pistol?"

Not that everything wasn't recorded anyway, but this time, he was being ultra formal.

Such rarely hurt when dealing with fanatics and the things they were fanatic about.


	4. Chapter 4

**Lies**

Finally, Ricardo had all of the information that he needed from the girl. He doubted that the Sisters of Battle would want any of it, but he made several copies of the interrogation, just in case they demanded those. Some he would truly hand over if needed or destroy. Others would go to various places, some known, some not. Information was his most important weapon after all. He nodded as Kay gave a tiny sob.

"You are exhausted." Mary spoke up from the wall where she had stood for the least two hours. "When did you have decent sleep last?"

"Really?" Kay demanded, anger rising. " _Now_ you try the soft approach?" She gave a gasp and her eyes slid shut of their own accord. "You…" She slumped back to the table as Mary's sedative worked its black magic.

"Technically, everything we just _did_ was the soft approach." Ricardo shook his head as he stepped to the table, refastening the restraints for all the good they would do. "You didn't detect psyker energy when she unlocked the restraints and froze you in place, did you?" He asked Mary, who jerked, face shocked.

"How did you…?" Mary looked clear eyed for the moment her face thoughtful. "Never mind, You won't say. No. None of the scanners detected such energy."

"Her story makes a certain amount of sense." Ricardo mused as he attached a device to Kay's skull that would keep her asleep even if she fought off the drugs, unlikely as that was. "It is internally consistent and fairly believable."

"And?" Mary asked, unsure as to where this was going.

"And it is all lies." Ricardo shrugged. "The Sisters I contacted had never heard of an Aspirant Kay. And if they _did_ detect an abhuman in their ranks? That one would die. Period." He sighed. "They keep their own secrets, but they will not turn from their faith without extreme measures. I have worked with enough Adeptas Sororitas to know that."

"So, are they are sending a team?" Mary asked. "Or was that just to throw her off balance?"

"They are." Ricardo's eyes narrowed as he looked from Mary to Kay and back. Was Kay panting? She was!

"What?" Mary demanded. Her eyes widened as Ricardo pulled a small device from a pouch and fear flew across her face. "What? No!"

Too late. He had pressed the button on it and she collapsed to the floor, moaning. She would have been screaming if she had that much control of her body.

"I warned you." Ricardo said mildly as Mary writhed in agony. The device he held was connected to a fairly nasty little thing embedded deep in her brain. One did not take chances with a being such as Mary. Not in the slightest. With her brain so messed up, it was hard to cause her pain and not have it revert to pleasure, but the Inquisition's medical specialists had managed. "You will not break this woman. She is the responsibility of the Sororitas and we are simply here to make sure she gets to them intact and coherent. I _warned_ you what would happen if your lusts ever endangered me. You just did."

Calm, cool, matter of fact. No emotion at all. He could kill her with a further twitch of the button and from his expression? He would care about as much as stepping on a Nurgling.

"She… Is… Calmer..." Mary managed to grate out as her body betrayed her. He let up on the button and she lay on the floor, gasping. "I didn't warp her! I just sedated her!"

Ricardo glanced at Kay who was lying quietly now. His face was blank as he pocketed the device.

"Get up." The Inquisitor commanded. "We need to know how she get free and froze you. You will do a _full_ noninvasive neurological workup. You will focus on the chemical and physical readings we have. You will peruse every recording we have of her brainwaves. You will make a full and uncensored copy ready for the Sororitas team when they arrive. And it goes without saying that you will _not_ try to seduce this girl or any of the Sororitas. If you do, I will hand you over to them without a single qualm. They may just shoot you. Or they may get _mean_."

Ricardo actually shuddered. He had seen a few times when Sororitas had been upset by things. Such memories were horrific in the extreme. His own faith was strong, but compared to theirs? Entire worlds had been broken on the anvil of the Sister's fanatic devotion to the Emperor. He had personally seen entire citadels of heretics burned alive by squads of angry Sisters. But even that paled beside some of the other things they had done. Some to their enemies, some to erstwhile allies. Some to each other.

"I am not _stupid!_ " Mary protested as she shot to her feet. "I need my fix." She begged and Ricardo sighed.

"Go." Ricardo snapped, patience fleeing. "This room will seal and a stasis field will activate was soon as we leave. There is no way she will get out of that." Mary bolted for the door, but paused when the Inquisitor spoke again. "I want that report by the end of shift."

"Yes, sir." Mary's subdued tone didn't fool him. She would push, it was who and what she was. But she also wouldn't quibble when he had a literal kill switch for her. Then she was gone.

Ricardo let one last glance travel over the slumbering girl before he too strode to the door. Just outside, he entreated the machine spirit of this part of the ship. It reacted as always and a whine heralded the activation of the stasis protocols. She wasn't going to escape those. Not a chance when she was outside of normal space and time. A beep from his wrist had him sighing. The other two members of his retinue wanted to talk. He looked from side to side, but no crew were in sight. A quick check of his scanners showed that Mace and Lornan were busy in the armory, probably tearing the pistol apart down to the molecular level. Doc was in the engineering spaces again, almost certainly swearing up a storm as he did when working. Mary was running towards her quarters, her need to satiate the addiction inside her brain overriding all else. The Captain…

"Inquisitor." Captain Mainwaring stepped into view, his face grave. "I got the message too. We need to keep our stories straight and as true as we can manage."

"Lying to Sororitas tends to piss them off." Ricardo nodded and he moved to the proper place.

"You would know that better than many." The Captain said mildly. Ricardo glared at him, but the Captain just shook his head. "What you did was a _very_ bad idea."

"It got the job done and the Canoness herself said it was all good." Ricardo said with just a touch of heat as the Captain moved close enough. A section of the floor opened underneath them and the hidden lift lowered them swiftly to another level, one that was not on any official plans. "It is not like they haven't done the same to people in the past."

"Not to one of their own Sister Superiors in _public_." The Captain shuddered. "Humiliating her that way may have been effective, but _geez,_ boss. There were better ways."

"She was wrong!" Ricardo snapped, ire rising. "She was ignoring the true threat because I was just a man."

"And?" The Captain asked reasonably. Ricardo deflated.

"And I was angry with her. I let my emotions override my common sense." Ricardo admitted. "A mistake. One my superiors spoke quite harshly to me about."

Even now, the rage that his boss had shown shook the Inquisitor. One did _not_ get called on the carpet by a Lord Inquisitor for small things. That hadn't been small. Humiliating the overbearing woman in front of four regiments of Imperial Guard in addition to the company of Sisters present had not been subtle in any way. The only thing that had saved his hide was that it had been effective. The Genestealer cult that the Sister Superior had been ignoring in the need to find and punish heretic humans had been dealt with before it could cause more havoc. She had dismissed his evidence out of hand, mostly in a need to show her superiority to any mere male. Making her kneel in the guts of a dead Genestealer had been over the top, he knew that then and he knew that now. But to this day, in the deepest, darkest parts of his mind, he _treasured_ the look on Sister Superior Sara Wrick's face when he had shown up with the 'imaginary' carcass and tossed it at her feet just as she had finished her sermon. Part of him had expected her to shoot him, Inquisitor or no. She hadn't and the cult had been dealt with along with other subversive elements as only the Sisters and Inquisition working together could. Then he had been unceremoniously shipped off to another sector and another branch of the Inquisition, not something that happened often.

He was lucky to be alive, he knew that. He also knew that the Sisters had long memories.

The lift stopped in a dark hallway and he stayed where he was while automated IFF protocols queried his implants. If any came back wrong or garbled, he wouldn't live for more than few seconds. After an eternity of maybe ten seconds, the lights of the hall started activating. The mismatched pair, the flamboyant pirate and the grim Inquisitor, started walking as the hall lit up in front of them. It wasn't long walk until they reached an armored door that would take a multimelta several minutes to pierce. Ricardo laid a hand on a barely visible panel on one side of the door as Mainwaring did the same on the other side. Something passed from Ricardo into the machinery. He wasn't sure what it was scanning, but he did know several weapons were aimed at him. For some things, there was simply no overkill.

"Greetings, Inquisitor Ricardo, Captain Mainwaring." As always, the melodious female voice sounded wrong to the human, but he ignored his mental quivers as the door hissed and jerked its way to opening, As old as the ship was? This place was the oldest part of it.

The room behind the door was far smaller than one would expect. It wasn't much larger than the two thrones that sat within it. 'Throne' was really the only proper word. As always, it took ever ounce of Ricardo's self control not to draw his pistol and fire at the form that sat on the left. The female was beautiful in a distinctly alien way. Her obsidian skin was marred by the many cybernetics that had been attached to her when she had first been enslaved by the builders of the ship uncounted centuries ago. She would never age and never die as long as the ship endured. That she felt pain when it was damaged was immaterial. She had been unrepentant when captured and enslaved by the Inquisition. Elesinial of the Dark Eldar was unrepentant _now_. If she ever broke free of her bonds, the humans on this ship could measure their lives in seconds if they were lucky. If not? Their agony would last _years_.

Also as always, the figure on the right was the one that spoke. The Dark Elder knew better than to push Ricardo too far. As painful as Mary had found his ire to be? He could do far worse to the enslaved Dark Eldar and she knew it.

"That woman is far more than she seems." Djerek wasn't human either. Ricardo wasn't sure what race the being was, but he was short, stout and his beard reached the floor. "We detected several hacking attempts trying to breach the room's firewalls. Very sophisticated, very hard to detect or counter. The elf here took that as personal affront and savaged the things.."

"She hacked the room defenses." Ricardo said softly. Both slaves to the ship nodded to him. "Oh shit."

"Yeah, 'oh shit' indeed. I am surprised you are still alive." Djerek agreed. "She has no augmentation. No psyker powers that we can detect. That means it is something that we haven't seen before."

"Or something that was buried for the good of the Imperium." Ricardo said softly. "We have to turn her over to the Sororitas."

"Who will kill her." Mainwaring said mildly.

"That may not be a bad thing and she was begging for it. But… that is sort of expected of a novice in such a situation. You were monitoring." Ricardo said after a moment. "Was _anything_ she said true?"

"She is very good at hiding her true self." The Dark Elder sounded almost appreciative of such skill. Her voice was silk and steel mixed, promising all kinds of things to the listener. Ricardo ignored that. Mainwaring likewise. "The name she gave ran true to my senses. The rest? Truth and falsehood mixed."

"Figured as much." Ricardo mused. "Will the stasis field hold her?"

"It should." Djerek sounded unsure, a first in Ricardo's experience. His devoted area was the day to day operation of the ship and he was excellent with such. Being hooked directly to the ship was both a wonderful thing and a terrible one. Ricardo didn't know whether to be amazed or appalled that the builders of the ship had used xenos for such. Maybe both? "She hadn't breached any of the firewalls before you sedated her. We may not be able to hold her if she gets out of that room." He warned.

"We can jettison the pod." Mainwaring offered. Ricardo glanced at him and the Captain shrugged. "Yes, I know open space will kill her. Just giving options."

"Killing her is an option, but one we will not entertain unless we have no other choice." Ricardo said firmly. "We will keep several copies of the records we make. Keep them secure." Both slaves nodded. "That said, the ship's safety takes priority."

"That woman stirs a memory." Elesinial sounded unsure for a moment. "There is something about her that worries me greatly."

"Only _one_ thing?" Ricardo's sarcasm was wasted on the Dark Elder. She was focused on something that only she could see.

"There is a feeling of… of..." To his amazement, she screamed! She jerked in her chair, despite the many things that held her in place. "No! _No!_ " All three of the males stared at her in shock as she fought her restraints. Finally, the controls placed inside her won and she sank back to her chair, panting. When she spoke again, it was subdued. "I feel a gaze upon us. A gaze both dark and bright. We are in grave danger. All of us."

"More than the Sororitas?" Ricardo asked, carefully. This Dark Elder served as the ship's navigator. She was incredible at maneuvering the small vessel through shifts in the Immaterium that would tear far larger and stouter vessels apart. Her psychic abilities were shackled to the ship, but that didn't make them any less formidable. If she ever got loose, it would take a Culexus assassin to bring her down and even _that_ might not work. She was no farseer, but this wasn't the first time for visions by a long shot.

"The Sororitas are a threat, yes." Elesinial said quickly. "But they are not even close the gravest. _They_ would simply kill us all. You know there are worse threats. I can feel Slaanesh seeking my mind!" She screamed again. "The Infinity circuits are failing!"

"No, they are not!" Djerek said with a growl. "Focus yourself, ya pansy elf! She hacked ya!"

Both Ricardo and the Captain stood still. They had no way to interfere in whatever was happening. Not a pleasant feeling. At all.

"No." Elesinial relaxed a bit. "She is in stasis. She did not. That did not come from her." Was that _fear_ on the Dark Eldar's face now? "No. _He_ _comes!_ "

She jerked in her chair and then slumped, her eyes rolling back in her head. Ricardo stared from her to Djerek who seemed at a loss for words.

"Is the ship secure?" Ricardo demanded.

"Yes." The alien slave said softly. "I have never seen her terrified before."

"She is effectively immortal in that thing and she is hidden from all who might harm her as long as the ship endures. I wasn't aware she _could_ be terrified." Mainwaring admitted. "I am not sure I like this."

"I know I don't." Ricardo sighed. "The Sororitas are bad enough. We hand the girl over to them and we can get on with our missions. We have to wait for them and then hopefully Elesinial will be awake before we need to jump. Otherwise, with the surges, we will be delayed again."

"Provided of course, they believe us when we tell them what we know." Mainwaring said heavily.

"Captain, we are the _Inquisition_." Ricardo said mildly as he turned to go. "Of course, they won't believe us. That said, we do what we are told and we can get to Charkov just a little behind schedule. Another ship has been sent to investigate the distress call since we were delayed."

"Lots to do." Mainwaring replied as he nodded to Djerek, eyed the unconscious Dark Eldar and then turned to go.

"The Inquisition's work is never done."

* * *

Somewhere in the Warp

"The Caligari sector?" The incredulous male voice demanded. "What the _hell_ was she doing in _Caligari_?"

"You know as much as we do." Another male voice answered, this one deeper, more resonant. "We will make best speed for there. Orders?"

"Let's try and keep it quiet if we can. The Inquisition is already involved." The first man said sourly. A snarl replied and he continued. "Good news is, so are the Sisters."

"I never thought _that_ would be considered 'good news'." The other said with a grunt. "But you can trust the Daughters to do what they think is right."

"Come hell or high water, yeah." The first man laughed.

"And even a tide will make way for an angry Sororitas if it has any sense at _all_."


	5. Chapter 5

**Fires**

Ricardo Illusmar was not used to this feeling.

He was an Inquisitor. His very presence was enough to make grown humans across the galaxy tremble. He had done things and seen things that would make most of said humans wet themselves and then go completely and utterly mad. He knew his strengths, his weaknesses and to within a millimeter how far he could push himself and those around him.

He was no stranger to fear, but it was always something he could control. This? No. He wasn't in control.

He knew that was what he was feeling as the Valkyrie lander touched down on the decks of the Void ship he called home. The fluer-de-lys markings all over it would make any citizen of the Imperium at the very least a bit wary. Everyone knew the markings of the Ecclesiarchy and everyone knew the servants of said group. The most fanatic of all the fanatics that served the church state that was the Imperium of Man.

The Adeptas Sororitas. More commonly known as the Sisters of Battle.

The rear hatch fell with a thunderous crash and he kept his face expressionless as two forms in power armor marched out onto the deck to take up station at either side of the end. Their bolters were in hand and if he knew anything about them? Both were off safe and had rounds chambered. They might or might not be able to puncture his own power armor, but that wasn't the point. One was a typical Godwyn-De'az pattern boltgun with a vicious looking blade attached, the other was a storm bolter. The two barrels of that weapon could put out a hail of rounds that only a dedicated heavy weapon could match. Neither weapon was aimed at him, but both power armored women were watching him. Both wore full helms.

The next pair of power armored beings down the ramp carried weapons that were far more worrisome. The flamer was the stereotypical weapon of the sisters, purging the unclean through righteous fire. They had done so throughout their history, putting entire worlds to the torch. The woman carrying that weapon held it almost negligently, but a careful observer like Ricardo would notice that her finger was not on the trigger and the igniter at the end of the barrel was glowing red hot. It was ready to fire.

The other woman held a meltagun and her entire posture was of barely controlled rage. That weapon would tear through his power armor like it wasn't even there. Hell, it was designed to kill _tanks_. Personal armor was a joke to such raw destructive power. Again, it wasn't aimed at him, but if she decided to fire? He was toast. Literally.

The weapons were expected. What was not was the colors of the power armor. The convent he had spoken to had been affiliated with the order of the Martyred Lady. Their black and red power armor was distinctive and well known across the Imperium. These sisters, however, wore _red_ armor with white accouterments. His eyes narrowed as he tried to place the Order they belonged to. He wasn't familiar with the heraldry they showed, but it was obvious who they were. No one impersonated Sisters. No one. Well, no one but Kay. If she really was lying about that.

"You are welcome aboard the 'Fat Chance', Sororitas." Ricardo said as another power armored form appeared at the top of the ramp. This one had no weapon in hand, but a bolt pistol and power sword hung at her sides. She was bareheaded, but her helmet hung at her hip. "I am Ricardo."

"We know who you are." The bareheaded woman said as she strode to face him, her face severe. "Give me _one_ good reason I shouldn't cut you down where you stand." Not an idle threat. Her hand was on her sword hilt.

"The girl is alive, whole, sane and we have recordings of all of the questions we asked her." Ricardo held out a scroll to the sister who eyed his hand as if it was venomous.

"'That girl' does not exist." The other declared.

"I agree." Ricardo said mildly. The Sister bracing him did not react and the Inquisitor fought hard to keep himself under control. "Whatever my past with the Sororitas, the current situation is what needs to be focused on, no?"

"Only a fool trusts anything you say." The Sister snapped. " _Inquisitor_. Your kind warp the truth as it pleases you."

"Truth varies from person to person." Ricardo did not flinch. He knew Sisters. He had dealt with them many times before his 'education' of Sister Superior Wicks. Yes, these were angry, but they were also obeying their orders. "What I did saved that world and countless souls on it. Was that worth a sister's pride?" He shook his head. "To me? It was. If I could have done it a different way and been listened to, I probably would have."

" _Probably?_ " What had to be the leader of this team all but pounced on the word.

"I have never claimed to be all seeing or all knowing." Ricardo stood his ground gamely as the Sister in front of him gripped her sword hilt to tight it squeaked. "She pissed me off."

"Well, well, well." To his amazement, the Sister in front of him smiled and stepped back. She released her sword hilt and the other sisters relaxed their tight guard stances. "An honest answer from an Inquisitor. Will wonders never cease?" She took a deep breath and nodded to him. "We needed to be sure. I am Veteran Sister Karne Liorima of the Order of the Lost Rosetta. I and my team have been sent to collect your guest." She snapped her fingers and another armored form appeared at the top of the ramp. Ricardo stared. This one was very different. "This is Sister Georgia. She was seconded to our team by her order."

The armored woman walked down the ramp carefully, as if expecting to trip and fall. Or as if she wasn't used to her armor which was different from the others, not as heavy or powered. She was from the Order of Serenity if he wasn't mistaken. Not a militant order. She made her way to stand in front of him and her visible face was pale. Her eyes however were clear and focused.

"Hospitallar." The Inquisitor nodded to the newcomer, noting that two of the battle sisters moved to flank her protectively. "You will be safe on this ship."

"She better be." Sister Karne's words were not ambiguous at all. If anything at all happened to the Hospitallar, bad things would happen to the ship and its crew.

"I have a former Arbites in my retinue whose specialty is warding those at risk." Ricardo said quietly. "Would you like me to assign him to her for the duration of her stay?" Sister Karne looked at Georgia who shook her head. Karne growled something. The Hospitallar jerked and then nodded.

"It would be appreciated." The courtesy fell strangely from the Veteran Sister's mouth, as if she was unused to uttering such.

"Mace!" Ricardo called and a hatch slid open against one wall. Mace strode in, his armor gleaming in the light of the bay and his shield immaculate. He walked towards Ricardo. He wore his full armor and helmet, but from his posture he was tense. Hard to blame him. As per Ricardo's orders, he did not have his shock rod in hand and all of the sisters were ready to fire. "You may relax, Mace." Ricardo commanded. "These sisters are not here to purge us."

"Yet." Came from one of the helmeted sisters. Veteran Sister Karne spun to glare at the offender who straightened and then gave a tiny nod.

"Courtesy where courtesy is due, Sister Rinas." Karne's voice was mild, but the rebuke was clear. "His methods may not be ours, but he does the Emperor's work. If that cult had been left to fester, that whole planet would likely be gone by now."

"For what it is worth, I know I was wrong. I should have picked a less public venue to show my evidence." Ricardo allowed. "I freely admit that humiliating her in public was a mistake."

" _I_ would have shot you for that." Karne might have been discussing the weather. Ricardo nodded. "I was ordered to inform you that she was chastised for ignoring your warning."

"That is neither here nor there." Ricardo said as Mace moved a bit closer. "Mace? You are ordered to protect the Hospitallar until she leaves the ship." The huge human nodded and moved to stand by Georgia who stared up at him with wide eyes. Even in armor, she was _half_ his size. Ricardo turned back to the Veteran Sister and frowned. "The girl's story checks out as far as I have been able to determine. She was found on a derelict ship that was attacked by Eldar Corsairs. She was one of two hundred and six survivors."

"Taken to the medical facility and put to work here?" Karne asked. Ricardo nodded. "Hmmm. There are no unaccounted for Sororitas teams in this area. You really think she is one of ours?" She asked, curious.

"I honestly do not know what to think." Ricardo admitted. "She says she is a psyker, but she is not showing any signs of psyker abilities." He would not have missed the sudden tension in the all of the Sororitas if he had been blind. "We have every scanner that the ship possesses aimed at her. Nothing."

"Do you have a psyker aboard?" Karne asked quietly. Ricardo shook his head. "Really?"

"My team's psyker died on our last mission." Ricardo replied. "The only psyker currently aboard is the ship's navigator who at last report was locked in his quarters trying not to wet himself." A snort came from one of the other sisters that both Ricardo and Karne ignored. The Sororitas view on psykers was well known across the Imperium.

"And your detectors show nothing?" Karne asked, concerned. Ricardo nodded. "That is…" She paused and shook her head before continuing. "Much as I dislike much of what you Inquisition people do, you are generally not fools."

"You have scans?" Georgia's voice was calm and assured even with her face so pale. Ricardo held out the scroll to her, but Mace took it first. The human swept it with something before handing it to the sister who stared at him, eyes even wider. "You didn't need to do that." She said weakly.

"He said to protect you." Mace said firmly. "I will protect you." Karne looked at him and nodded, a faint smile gracing her face for a bare moment.

"Why do I get the feeling this is going to be a very long assignment?" Georgia asked nobody as she slotted the scroll into a reader and started scanning it.

"Quit whining, girl." Karne said flatly and Georgia stiffened before nodding to the elder sister.

"First time out of the convent?" Ricardo asked the Hospitallar who nodded. "Why you?"

"I am a specialist in odd matters of biology. The report you sent showed a number of oddities." Georgia said softly, most of her attention still on the scroll she was scanning. "And yes, I see the confirmation here. She is unaugmented."

"That was a shock." Ricardo agreed.

"I don't think she can be." Georgia said softly. "Did she...exhibit anything out of the ordinary?" Ricardo looked at her and she winced. "Um..."

"Did the girl do anything weird?" Karne clarified.

"She managed to undo restraints that were both code locked and physically secured." Ricardo said quietly. Karen and Georgia both tensed and he continued. "I put her in stasis."

"That seems safest." Karne said with a frown. "Was she hostile?"

"No." Ricardo shrugged. "She seems distraught, but I find it hard to separate truth from lies with her."

"I am not surprised, if what I believe is true." Georgia said quietly. "She has likely had a long, long time to learn how to avoid telling the whole truth while telling it. The scan you sent matches another. From ten thousand years ago."

"What?" Ricardo pause and then stiffened as realization struck. An ancient woman who was pure human and not augmented like all of the current humans? " _No..._ " He breathed. "She cannot be."

"We won't know until and unless we do a series of tests." Georgia said flatly. "We need to make sure she is secure. If she _is_ a Perpetual, then there are all kinds of people, both human and other, who will start closing in on her."

Perpetual. Humans in all every way that mattered, but _not_. Immortal. Powerful. The _Emperor of Mankind_ had been one. Others had been known throughout the millennia as both forces for good and forces for evil.

"Holy Emperor." Ricardo managed to find his tongue first. More than one of the Sisters made religious signs as well. "You say you have a scan?"

"Um, sort of." Sister Georgia said a bit sheepishly. "It is very old and very hard to decipher, but it is a genetic scan. That part is clear and it matches the girl."

"My orders on finding such a being are clear." Ricardo said flatly. "I have to report it."

" _We_ have to report it." Karne agreed. "But first, we have to prove she is who we think she is."

"And how do we do that?" Ricardo asked and then shook his head as Karne patted the bolt pistol holstered at her side. "Really?"

"There are other ways!" Georgia protested. "You can't just shoot her!"

"Actually, she can." Ricardo said slowly. "If she was pretending to be a Sororitas, then the penalty for that is death."

"She is not!" The Hospitallar nearly exploded and then froze as everyone stared at her. "Um..."

"Sister Georgia. Be silent." Karne might have been carved from stone now.

Ricardo slowly laid his hands on the butts of his pistols. Mace hefted his shield, but paused when Ricardo shook his head. They had served together so long it took no audible commands for Ricardo to order Mace to protect the Hospitallar and keep her from fleeing.

"You know who she is." Ricardo said softly. No one moved and he continued. "And if I press this, you will kill me and likely everyone else on this ship." None of the Sororitas seemed to be breathing and Ricardo slowly shook his head. "My life is the Emperor's and if it is my time, so be it. You know that if you do gun me down, none of you will leave this bay alive."

He hadn't chosen this bay for the sisters to land in at random. The hangar had hidden heavy weapons emplacements both manned and automated set up in bunkers for just such an invasion. The Inquisition protected its assets.

"Am I your enemy?" Ricardo asked the Veteran Sister who glared at him, her hand on her sword again. He sighed, readying himself for death. "My life is-"

"STOP!"

The voice was impossible. There was simply no way it could be here! Not here, not now! But yes, that _was_ Kay that ran into the hangar bay, her gown gone and replaced with coveralls suitable for a crew member. How had she gotten out of stasis? How was she…? Ricardo reeled but then recovered.

"Glad you could join us. We were just discussing you, Kay." The Inquisitor fought for equilibrium as every Sister aimed at him and Karne finally drew her sword. "That is your name, yes?"

"Yes." Kay came to a halt at Georgia's side and shook her head. "Georgie, you _moron!_ "

"Good to see you too, Kay." The Hospitallar said sourly.

'Georgie'? Ricardo filed that way for later. He slowly shook his head again and then very slowly and carefully removed his hands from the handles of his weapons. "I should have realized. That insult was not in any current language. Who else would know such but someone who was there?"

"You are very good at what you do." Kay had changed, or an outer persona had sloughed off like a Callidus assassin shedding his or her skin. "We need him, Sister Karne."

"Lady Kay..." Karen started to protest, but a glare from Kay shut her up. "Yes, Milady." She actually bowed!

 _Lady?_ Ricardo reeled anew at that. Sororitas bowed to their superiors and the Emperor. No one else. He stared at Kay and she sighed deeply.

"I never intended the Inquisition to get involved." She said with a sigh as the other sisters moved to flank her. Protectively? "Much as I detest a lot of what you do, it is needed. You neither need nor want to know who I am. I am not excommunicate because to your masters, I do not exist."

"That way you can move freely." Ricardo nodded. "And the medical ward?"

"The Eldar attacked me." Kay said quietly. "The ship I was on paid the price for our conflict. When I woke, I helped the survivors and then I was working on an ex-filtration plan when that fool started spouting gibberish and slaughtering everyone. Shooting him was the easiest way to solve the problem."

"And then you were unmasked in the middle of a highly secure facility. That painted a big red target on you." Ricardo said sourly. All of the sisters nodded along with Kay. "So,… I have to report this." He said softly.

"Yes, you do." Kay allowed. Karne made a noise of protest, but Kay shook her head. "Sister Karne, he has to. Thing is… _What_ do you have to report?"

"We can fight our way out of here." Karne protested sourly. Kay glared at her again and Karne winced. "Apologies."

"Shooting people is not always the answer." Kay said sternly and the Veteran Sister took the rebuke. "Even Alicia knew that." At that name, every sister crossed themselves.

"Alicia?" Ricardo swallowed hard. The _only_ Alicia whose name alone would have every sister act that way would be _Alicia Dominica_. The leader of the Brides of the Emperor and the _founder_ of the Adeptas Sororitas. This woman Kay spoke of her as an _equal_. Oh shit.

"Yeah." Kay said sadly.

"We need to talk."


	6. Chapter 6

**Unknown history**

"No, Georgia." Kay said sharply as the Hospitallar tried to serve her a drink. "Stop that! I am not your teaching mistress anymore."

"You are still an elder sister." Georgia said serenely as she held the tea out to Kay who took it with ill grace. "We owe you deference at the very least."

"Geez!" Kay sipped the tea and smiled a bit forlornly. "Maybe someday, I can get it through your head that I am not _better_ than any of you. Just _older_."

"Good luck with _that_." Karne sounded distinctly amused as Georgia pouted. Kay glared at her but the glare bounced off the armored woman like a light caliber round. "She is a bit stubborn, our Hospitallar."

"Some things never change." Kay sighed deeply as she sat back.

For his part, Ricardo was just observing. Observing the Sisters and Kay. They obviously knew each other very well. The other sisters were arrayed around the walls with Mace by the door. They had repaired to this smaller room, one with recorders activated. It also had several high tech defenses built into the walls, but Ricardo wasn't sure about those now. Not with Kay being able to escape a _stasis field_. Kay nodded to him.

"You have been very quiet, Inquisitor." Kay said with a small frown. "I assume you have many questions."

"Small understatement there." Ricardo said softly. "My problem is… I don't know what I can ask." Kay nodded soberly. All of the armed Sisters were on hair trigger still. Karne hadn't released her sword hilt this whole time and the other sisters were little better.

"You can ask _anything_ , but you will want to be circumspect in what you ask and I may not be able to answer." Kay said with a frown. "There are a lot of things I simply cannot speak of. I am sworn never to speak of some things and others?" She shrugged. "No one wants to know." Ricardo nodded. He knew that feeling. "You are Ordo Hereticus. Which doesn't mean as much out here in Caligari since you have to do a bit of everything."

"Yes." Ricardo worked hard to stay noncommittal. Kay nodded approval.

"I know this whole situation has tossed you for a loop." Kay said with a shrug. "I am not an enemy of the Imperium. I never have been."

"Hard to prove." Ricardo replied.

"Yeah, that it is and we don't really have time for me to go over a few thousand years worth of my mistakes." Kay sipped her tea again and shook her head. "I am no heretic. I believe in the Emperor." Ricardo's eyes narrowed and she nodded. "He created me."

"He _what_?" That came from both Ricardo and Mace. Mace stilled, but Ricardo slowly shook his head.

"Georgia?" Kay asked the Hospitallar who suddenly looked ashen. "You had to keep poking. You figured out most of it. Want to explain?"

"He won't believe me." Georgia protested.

"He is not going to believe _anyone_ without concrete facts, Georgia. Maybe not even then." Kay retorted without heat. "Ferreting out truth from lies is his job." The Inquisitor stared at her and she smiled. It was impish, that smile. "Yes, I have dealt with your agency more than once. Some of them were quite good. Others? Not so much."

"That is the way of any organization." Ricardo replied, still reeling from her casual dropping of the fact that she had been _created_. That made her what? An artifact? A xenos? Some kind of mutant? She was very sharp eyed. She picked up his hesitation before he even registered it himself.

"I am human, Inquisitor." Kay said softly. "Not a mutant, or a psyker no matter what some of my abilities may look like. I am no god, no daemon. I owe no allegiance to any power but myself and the Emperor." She bowed her head. "That said, I do not bow to the Ministorium or Ecclesiarchy except when I must to preserve my cover identity." She actually snicked. "Alicia was a good role model for that."

"I think I do need to hear this." Ricardo nodded to Georgia who frowned. "You investigated her?"

"Her records said one thing, but none of my gene scanning equipment worked around her." Georgia said with a wince. "I tried less obvious means."

"She tried to take a clandestine blood sample and I hit her so hard I knocked her out." Kay corrected the Hospitallar gently. "That was dumb, Georgia. I take my privacy very seriously."

"What would that have shown?" Ricardo asked, curious.

"The tech you have now? Nothing." Kay shook her head. "It is not sensitive enough to detect what the Emperor did to make me. Defending myself was instinctive. She didn't mean anything by it, she was just curious." She shrugged. "Curiosity almost killed the cat in this case."

"So… what?" Ricardo asked, ignoring the odd turn of phrase. He had no idea what a 'cat' was.

"So, when she woke, she and I had a _long_ talk with her Canoness about history." Kay said sternly to Georgia who winced. "So... Georgia?"

The Hospitallar nodded and started to speak.

* * *

A forgotten planet, a forgotten war

They were holding, but not by very much. The heretical hordes charged again and the massed fire of the weapons of the Faithful threw them back in steaming masses yet again. But ammunition was running low. The heavy weapons kept the hordes of mutated horrors out of their ranks for now, but when those ran dry? Things would get bad.

"We need to fall back!" Alicia Dominica was many things. She had been called fanatic, zealot and worse. She was _not_ a fool. "We cannot hold this position!"

"Know your place-" A guardsman started, only to fall as Alicia backhanded him. Bone audibly snapped as her power armor augmented her slap. Only a fool talked back to Alicia Dominica and _never_ more than once. Several of his fellows raised their lasguns, but she had her bolt pistol in hand and her sisters had their weapons aimed sort of at the enemy and sort of at the altercation.

"My _place_?" Alicia said through gritted teeth as the commander of the joint force stared at her in shock. 'Is that what _you_ think to, General?"

"Where can we go, Daughter of the Emperor?" The general in charge of the expedition looked tired. Indeed, _everyone_ was tired. They had been fighting nonstop for almost two days. "Our landing craft are destroyed and our communications are jammed."

They had walked right into this trap. They had been expected. Somehow, the hordes of chaos worshipers on the planet had known they were coming and where they would land. It had been a slaughter at the landing zone and only the fervor of the sisters and the Guard's heavy armor had managed to break the battered force free of the kill zone. All but one of the tanks were gone now, picked to pieces by wave after wave of screaming horrors. As if to punctuate, the last surviving Leman Russ fired its main cannon again, but they too had to be running low on ammo. At least the lascannon the tank had fixed in its front mount needed no ammo, but it wasn't that useful against waves of screaming cultists.

"There have to be communication facilities we can use or repair." Alicia kept her voice calm and assured. "This world hasn't been lost long enough for _all_ of the tech to be broken beyond repair. I _refuse_ to fail the Emperor this way."

"I would prefer to serve the Emperor a bit longer myself, Milady." The general said sourly. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"We need long range vox." Alicia said with a nod. "As I passed the last ridge line, I saw a broadcast tower to our west. If we can get there and hook into it, even if it isn't functional as is, it can still boost our signals." The general stared at her and then shook his head. "I can get there, General."

"That is at least two kilometers through a horde of maddened beasts, Daughter." The general said firmly. "We would have to attack all along that front to give you any chance of success." A blast to the left drew every eye, but then people went back to their fields of fire when nothing more happened.

"Sir!" A call came from nearby. "Sector three reports a stopped suicide bomber caused a cave-in into some kind of tunnel system!"

"More heretics coming!" Came the call and Alicia snarled as she took up position in what limited cover was available, her sisters also taking aim again as well.

"I knew my time would come." Alicia said sadly over her squad's vox. "I just didn't think it would be so soon. The Emperor protects and-" She was cut off.

"You serve the Emperor?" A new voice sounded over the vox! Female, but not one of her sisters! "Where is he? What has happened?"

That wasn't possible! The codes for her sister's vox were some of the most closely guarded secrets that Alicia and her company held. Alicia snarled and fired as the first cultists came into sight, flinging themselves at the dwindling line of Imperial troops with furious abandon with no regard for their lives. They existed simply to get the Imperials to waste ammunition. The heavier troops were coming. Alicia knew that in her bones.

"I am a little _busy_!" Alicia snapped. "We can do a question and answer if we survive what these chaos loving scum are planning!"

"Do you require assistance?" The other asked.

"What kind of a question is _that_?" Alicia screamed as a huge shell flew over her head to slam into he Leman Russ. The cultists had _artillery!_ The shell burst into flame and she heard the screams of the crew as they were burnt alive. Larger forms appeared in the distance! Traitor Space Marines! No _wonder_ this trap was so well done! "We are being _overrun_!"

"Then I have only one word for you." The other sounded anticipatory. " _Incoming_."

What the-?

Alicia was hardly the only person on the line to shout in shock as the entire left side of their hasty perimeter seemed to explode. No. Not explode! Something was _heaving_ its way out of the ground! Something massive, rusted and ancient looking. The General was staring at the vehicle in shock. He seemed frozen and Alicia threw herself at the man as a cultist with a lasrifle he had to have looted from a dead Imperial took aim at him. She shot that cultist even as the General fell with an 'oof' out of the line of fire.

Then the newly unearthed machine opened fire on the cultists and the stunned Chaos Space Marines. Just like that, the tide turned. Alicia could see that not all of its weapons were functional. It didn't _matter!_ Where the horde had been on the verge of victory, suddenly a pair of massive booms from the turret heralded two _equally_ massive explosions in the distance. The squad of traitors vanished in a huge fireball and an oddly shaped cannon flew end over end the other way. A cry of alarm spread through their ranks even as the machine spun on its axis, heavy bolters chewing through the suddenly disorganized ranks.

"The Emperor protects." The female voice spoke again over the vox. Then she snarled and her voice was audible. " _Die,_ _you_ _treasonous_ _filth!_ "

All of its functioning weapons were raining death on the now fleeing horde. Alicia doubted a tenth of them would make it out of range, especially when the remainder of the Imperials opened fire. The rout became a slaughter that did not last long. None of the horde escaped. Only then did Alicia take stock. Her sisters looked a bit the worse for wear, but the Imperial troops had fared worse without the power armor and weapons that the Sister took for granted. The general looked up from the torn body of his aide and then at the tank in the distance.

"That is a _Stormhammer_. An ancient Imperial superheavy tank. I studied such in the Academy where I was trained." The general said as he rose to his feet slowly. "Where did it _come_ from?"

"I have coms with..." Alicia shrugged helplessly. "... _someone_. I think I better ask while you reorganize what we have left." Alicia started forward, her sisters moving to flank her. All were battered. Nina was limping but when Alicia looked at her, the other sister waved her concern away.

"I have been hit worse." Nina growled. "We need to get the hell off this benighted world." All of them paused as their vox crackled.

"This world is the Emperor's." The unknown voice said sternly. "You cannot simply abandon it to darkness."

"Who are you?" Alicia demanded. "I am Alicia Dominica, leader of the Adepta Sororitas."

"The _what_?" The other asked, perplexed. "I… ah… I slept a long time, didn't I? He said I might. Hang on a sec. One of you may enter. Only one." A hatch clanged open on the tank's side.

"Alicia..." Nina growled as Alicia stepped forward.

"If she wanted us dead, I think we would be." Alicia said sternly. "See about scouting that array. We need to get word to the fleet."

"The array is sound." The other reassured her. "That is how I am communicating with you. I can give you access."

"And _how_ do you have our codes?" Alicia demanded. She waved at another sister who started pulling her com gear open.

"I could ask you the same." The other sounded perplexed. "You serve the Emperor but he doesn't just _give_ such codes out."

"Who _are_ you?" Alicia breathed as she peered into the tank and saw nothing but gloom even with her helmet's improved senses. She stepped in and froze as it lit up. The interior looked _nothing_ like the interior of any Imperial tank she had ever seen. It was clean, pristine almost. A far cry from the rusted, ruined exterior.

"My name is Kay." The voice was aloud and came from a human female in golden power armor who sat in an odd chair near the center of the vehicle. She wore no helmet that Alicia could see, but odd shimmering was all around her head. The armor was familiar! But the woman wearing it was Alicia's size. Not a Custodes then. She didn't think they had women in their ranks anyway. Which was just as well. They were scary enough as it was.

"Where is the crew?" Alicia said weakly. Any Imperial tank of this size would have a crew of at least a dozen soldiers and perhaps a techpriest assigned as well to keep it functioning.

"I am the crew." Kay said simply. "I have slept here for a long, long time, Alicia Dominica of the Adepta Sororitas. The Emperor ordered me to await his return. He did not. What happened?"

She sounded so lost and alone. Alicia's heart went out to this wayward sister.

"Do you remember the year when you went to sleep?" Alicia asked gently as she stepped forward. Kay rose from her seat and she was a bit smaller than Alicia even in her beautiful armor. Kay spoke a date and Alicia nodded, her heart heavy. "I see. Then you don't know. Shortly after that, the great traitor Horus turned on the Emperor."

" _What?_ " Kay wasn't faking her sudden shock. No way. "The _warmaster_?"

"Yes." Alicia stepped forward and took Kay's hand in her own. It trembled in her armored grip. "His heresy swept the galaxy in blood and fire. The Emperor defeated him, but was mortally wounded in the process."

" _NO!_ " Kay screamed in denial. "He is the _Emperor!_ He cannot be _dead_!"

"He is not." Alicia said with a smile. "His power allows him to endure even now. He is and always will be our Emperor. And now, I think I know why we were sent here. Well met, sister." She pulled Kay into as close an embrace as she could manage in armor. "We have a fleet in orbit, but our initial landing fell afoul of a planned trap. Can this vehicle move further?"

"I… um..." Kay swallowed hard and shook her head. A screen flared into being nearby. It was not anything Alicia had ever seen, but after all this? She just rolled with that. It showed the tank mostly highlighted in red lines. Kay slumped a bit. "No. I broke the drive train fairly thoroughly smashing down the hangar doors that held it for so long."

"Considering you saved _my_ life and the lives of _all_ of my sisters?" Alicia led Kay towards the hatch. "I won't blame you _this_ time. Don't let it happen again." She smiled to show that was a joke.

"It was just a machine." Kay said weakly as Alicia drew her to the hatch. "But it was home. He commanded me to wait for him. I have to-"

"He couldn't come. I bet he sent _us_ to bring _you_ home." Alicia said firmly as she pulled Kay out into the light. A crowd of Imperials had gathered around the machine now and all of the sisters stood wary watch. "You are not alone." She nodded to the stunned crowd. "This is Kay, my sister. She has returned to us."

All of the assembled sisters bowed to Kay who bowed back. The Imperials didn't seem to know how to react, but then the General stepped forward and saluted her. Every one of the surviving Guards did likewise. Kay seemed at a loss and Alicia nodded to the General who dropped his salute.

"My sister has been asleep for a long time and she will need time to recover as well as to acclimatize herself to this time." Alicia said firmly. "Nina?" She acknowledged the other sister when Nina made a gesture.

"Coms are restored. We think the traitors were jamming and _they_ are blown to pieces." The wounded sister still looked like hell, but she was still standing and knowing her? Anyone who tried to offer aid would get hurt. "The fleet is sending more troops. _This_ time escorted by fighters and gunships." A sour sound came from everyone at that.

"A day late and a dollar short." Kay said with a grunt. Alicia snickered at the other's sour voice even if she didn't understand the phrase. "Command me, Sister Alicia."

"As you said, Sister Kay: This world is the _Emperor's_." Alicia said firmly as the sounds of engines thundered down out of the sky. "The foe has many faces, many tricks and traps, but they can be faced and fought with skill and steel. With faith and fire."

She held up an armored fist to the heavens. Kay did the same along with the other sisters as gleaming trails split the sky towards the landing zone. The General did the same and suddenly, every Imperial was standing with raised fist. They all shouted as one. Their cry was one heard across the galaxy.

" _FOR THE EMPEROR!_ "


	7. Chapter 7

**Ugly**

Inquisitor Ricardo didn't even try to hide his skepticism with the entire situation when Georgia stopped speaking.

"And you all just lived happily ever after?" Ricardo asked snidely. "As sisters?"

"No." Kay was staring off into space, her face pensive. "Alicia was a hard woman. She was a good friend, but a hard woman. Her experiences had molded her into a weapon that the Imperium needed so badly after the Age of Apostasy." Her gaze turned to he floor. "She accepted me for who and what I was even though I knew it cost her when she discovered I couldn't die. She accepted that I was human and fallible, just as she was. Even if I wasn't born the same way she was, I served the Emperor with every breath and that was enough for her."

"But not for everyone." The Inquisitor's words were not a question.

"No." Kay shook her head. "There are many who would call me abomination or mutant even knowing that the Emperor made me." She sighed. "Maybe even more so knowing."

"Are you the only one?" Ricardo asked.

"As far as I have been able to determine, yes." Kay looked at Georgia who frowned. "Georgia here was tasked with finding out if there were any more references to people like me in sister records as penance for trying to drug me and sample my blood. She didn't find anything in the three years that took her."

"I am not perfect, Sister Kay." Georgia demurred. Kay made a sour noise and the Hospitallar nodded. "None of the data searched I did found anything but our records are not complete." Ricardo looked at her but Kay shook her head.

"No, Inquisitor." Kay said firmly. "She doesn't deserve to be dragged into your darkness." That was a firm rebuke and Ricardo looked at her. "We do need you, but leave her _alone_." There was an implicit 'or else' in that phrase.

"You.. need _me_?" Ricardo asked slowly. "Why?" He shook his head. "If you can subvert technology as easily as you seem to be able to..." He paused. "The Mechanicus don't like you, do they?"

"Define 'like'." Kay groaned halfheartedly. "Some of them seem to want to drag me to Mars in physical bondage to work for them. Others want to dissect me. Again." She grimaced. Georgia made a face too. Karne stepped forward and laid the hand that was not holding her sword on Kay's shoulder. Kay smiled at the veteran sister and nodded as Karne stepped back to the wall.

"Again?" Ricardo wasn't sure he wanted to know. What little he knew of the Tech-Priests of Mars did not endear him to them or vice versa.

"The Tech-priests were surprised by the tank I showed up in." Kay said quietly. "It had a number of technologies in it that they had never seen before. They reacted as they usually do with such. With greed although they don't acknowledge such base human emotions. They confiscated it and demanded me. Alicia told them to go pound sand. They insisted, she shot a couple of them." Kay shook her head. "They um… They kidnapped me and she led a recovery team. Said team was _not_ gentle about breakage when they blew their way into the Mechanicus facility where I was being 'examined'. I had been torn to pieces by then and I died in Alicia's arms. She was justifiably upset and none of the tech priests survived her wrath. She was even more upset when I came back a few minutes later. It was the first time and I was just as shocked as she was. Other sisters called it a miracle, but I think Alicia came within a hair's breath of killing me that day. I know I nearly blew my own brains out a day later after a lot of thought and prayer." She slumped. "Not that it would have done any good."

"They dissected you alive?" Ricardo asked softly. That was totally in character for tech-priests he knew. He simply wanted confirmation.

"Alive. Aware. Screaming." Kay's voice was flat. "And that wasn't the last time. They have caught me three times since then and done it all three times. The last time, another tech priest was arguing with the one dissecting me, saying they couldn't detect anything. That I should go to Mars instead. When I reintegrated, I ran like hell and didn't look back."

"I can't blame you for that." Ricardo gave an involuntary shiver. He had seen horrors first hand and knew very well the pain of injuries and near death. But to actually _die_ over and over? Ouch.

"That wasn't the worst." Kay was grim now. "I spent a long time with the Sisters. I changed Orders every time I died. Sometimes I simply hid as a regular battle sister, sometimes I worked for them in various other capacities. I used to tell every Canoness who I was. Until the Sacred Rose." She shivered and Georgia moved to stand beside her again, offering silent support.

"Do I want to know?" Ricardo asked.

"I did as I usually did, went to the Canoness in charge as soon as I arrived at the convent and identified myself. The Canoness demanded that I prove my faith by submitting to fire. Not the first time. Unpleasant as hell, but needed on occasion to prove my identity. I stepped into the fire willingly." Kay sighed. "I did and came back. She ordered it again. She had sisters ready to hold me in place while she burned me with an Inferno pistol. I never flinched, moved or cried out as she burned me alive. I proved my faith again and again and it didn't _matter_ to her. She wanted me gone and I wouldn't _stay_ gone. When she tried to do it the fourth time, I fled and have never gone back to any of their convents."

"Hard to blame you." Ricardo allowed. "But...why?"

"She saw Kay as a threat to her political power." Karne said with a growl. "Sisters are supposed to be above such petty things. She wasn't. Kay fled to our Order on the fringe of the Imperium a hundred and twenty years ago. She spent a great deal of time with us, teaching, training, helping those of us with crisis of faith. None of us knew who she was, just that she was rock in an insane universe and we all loved her for it. We all knew she was old, but none of us had a real clue about her except the Canoness who suspected, but didn't _know_."

"Which is why I had to leave, Karne." Kay said with a sigh. "I am no leader. When you lot put _my_ name down as a Canoness candidate to replace Carmen when she started talking retirement? I knew I had to leave."

"She disappeared and we have been looking for her ever since." Karne explained when the Inquisitor looked at her. "The Emperor guided us here to Georgia's convent just as your message requesting and requiring Sororitas involvement came in. We offered our aid and since the Order of Serenity is non-militant, they accepted our aid."

"The Emperor or something _darker_." Kay said with a growl. She gave herself a shake. "That is neither here nor there. I have a duty to the Emperor and I came to Caligari to fulfill that duty. I taught Georgia and many others to have something to do while I searched."

"Do tell." Ricardo did not move. That wouldn't be wise with the sisters so keyed up. He did feel a tinge of anticipation.

"I may be the only one of my kind." Kay was quiet, reflective for a moment. "But the Emperor was always a planner. He planned on there being more like me. He planned on using us as weapons in his war to reunite humanity. He never quibbled about that when he explained to me what my purpose was."

For some reason, it wasn't ludicrous to hear Kay talking about the Emperor in such a way. It felt right as odd as that was. Ricardo started a self diagnostic just in case he was being manipulated.

"So… You are a _literal_ Daughter of the Emperor. That explains the Sisters' devotion." Ricardo said slowly. All of the sisters nodded. Kay just looked at him. "And you were attacked by Eldar...why?"

"I made a serious mistake once." Kay sighed deeply. "I was ambushed and cornered by a Mechanicus team. A force of Eldar were in the trap with me and didn't see me. They thought the Mechanicus trap was for them. They fought hard and well. I didn't think I could do it, but desperate times and all that. My ability with tech is not limited to Imperial tech." Ricardo felt his eyes widen and he fought to control them as Kay frowned. "The Eldar were just as shocked as I was when I hopped into one of their Falcons and flew away in it. Some of them must have escaped the Mechanicus because I have been dodging Eldar strike forces every since. Sometimes, I am not fast enough and we get messes like what sent me to that medical facility."

"Can you control other xenos tech?" Ricardo asked, curious despite himself.

"I haven't tried." Kay admitted. "The Eldar tech felt odd. Not right. I haven't dared anything else. Xenotech is forbidden by the Emperor. I did three years of penance for using that Eldar vehicle for ten minutes and I _still_ feel soiled to this day." The look on her face was pure disgust.

"Well, that is good." Ricardo mused. "But what is your duty then?"

"There is a tank configured like the one I was found in buried on a planet in this sector." Kay said quietly. "That is nothing new. People bury military stores all the time. This however, is different. I received a message sent in a way that no one else could detect, that the depot where the tank is hidden is being slowly looted. By who and for what? I have no idea. But the _last_ thing we need is some chaos cult getting their hands on something like a Baneblade that can be operated by one person." Ricardo stared at her in horror and she nodded. "I don't know what kind of tank it is, but I doubt it is a Chimera. The Emperor didn't go for _small_ gestures."

"No." The Inquisitor mused. "We cannot assume anything but the worst. What would you want from me and what would you offer?" Karne and her sisters immediately tensed, but Kay held up a hand. "Hypothetically of course."

Anyone else, he would simply demand the information and take it if not offered immediately, using whatever force was needed. Now? That would be a _very_ bad idea.

" _Hypothetically_ of course..." Kay had a small smile on her face now. "I am one woman. Unarmed and alone in a warzone I wouldn't last very long at all. I would need an escort to the depot and a means of excavating the tank. As for what I can offer? The tank is the Emperor's and I cannot give away his materials. Anything _else_ in the depot would be fair game and the one I woke up in had all kinds of stuff in it. Some of which the Imperial Guard nearly swooned over." Ricardo just sat and waited. Kay smiled. "Including a set of intact STC fragments."

At that, Ricardo sat up straight. A Standard Template Construct (STC) system was an advanced, artificially intelligent computer created during the Dark Age of Technology and said to have contained the sum total of human scientific and technological knowledge. Wars had been fought over such fragments because they usually provided invaluable pieces of easy to build technology. The Land Crawler used by farmers across the Imperium and the Land Raider made famous by the Adeptus Astartes had both had their designs relearned from hidden STC fragments. They were the main focus of Adeptus Mechanicus explorator teams as well as countless Rogue Trader expeditions into the unknown. One could literally make more wealth than could be spent in even an enhanced human's lifetime if such ready to make and easy to use designs were found again.

"That would interest any number of people." Ricardo admitted. "I have my duty or it might interest me as well."

"Oh, come on." Kay waved a negligent hand his way. "Tell me your bosses give you everything you need when you need it and you never have to back channel stuff or buy it from dubious sources and I _will_ laugh in your face." At that, Ricardo snorted. It might be a bad idea, but he found he sort of liked Kay. He didn't trust her, but he might be starting to like her.

"All right." Ricardo said slowly. "I am not immune to such a lure. Just the thought of having such funds to prosecute my own investigations would appeal to me. But mainly, keeping such weapons out of the hands of the Ruinous Powers appeals to me more."

"Agreed." Kay blew out a deep breath. "Now, as for what we will need…? I know the planet and generally where, but we need to find out more about the location and then we will need to both secure it and hold it against all comers until we can extract the tank."

"And then what?" Ricardo asked. "You cannot drive it off planet, can you?"

"No." Kay looked sad. "I don't want to leave it in your hands either, but better _yours_ than the Ruinous Powers." Karne stepped forward and Kay shook her head. "Karne, the Sisters have no organic means of carrying heavy armor like that and lots of people will object _very_ strongly if I hand such over to someone like Canoness Lily." Ricardo looked blank again and Karne snarled.

"The Canoness of the Sacred Rose won't touch you again!" Karne said savagely.

"I will not be the cause of strife between sisters, Karne." Kay said in a very quiet, but very firm voice. "Not now, not ever." Her quiet should have been over-matched by the armored sister's anger. It wasn't.

"Gah!" Karne stepped back, bowing her head. "We will ward you."

"I have no doubt that you will do your best." Kay smiled to reassure the discomfited sister and Karne relaxed a little. Just a little. "But where we are going, we need more than five weapons, no matter how well trained and motivated. The planet is a warzone."

"Which planet?" Ricardo asked, pulling up a map of the sector on a screen nearby.

"Lacaon VI." Kay replied instantly. Ricardo stared at her and she nodded. "And yes, I know."

"The entire Lacaon system is a hellhole." Ricardo said softly. "The Ruinous Powers have mounted major offensives across the entire area."

"They do nor want to give up the lands they stole when the systems were cut off." Kay said with a sigh. "It won't change anything in the end except the body counts. They will not hold those systems."

"Lacaon VI is a mess and a half." Ricardo was shaking his head as he perused the data on the screen. "Three Imperial regiments were corrupted and the responding orbital strikes decimated the world's remaining population."

"While the Dark Gods laugh in glee." Kay said quietly. "The Emperor's light _will_ reach down to those worlds. It just may take some time." She blew out a deep breath, "But the last thing we need is for any of the traitors to find such a treasure trove."

"What would they do?" Georgia asked. Everyone looked at her and she flushed. "I am new to war zones."

"The military hardware, they would use." Kay said quietly. "The tech? They would use it if they can or destroy it to keep it out of Imperial hands if they cannot." Georgia looked horrified and Kay nodded. "I would sooner see the entire area destroyed than any of it in the hands of Chaos filth but orbital bombardment won't even scratch such a depot as the one I slept in. The Emperor built deep. Even if we kill all the ones on the surface, more will survive in the tunnels. We need to go clean them out of there."

"If there were Astartes available, I would send them." Ricardo said with a nod. "They could do the job."

"They would also preserve the tech." Kay allowed. "None are available?"

"No." Ricardo said sourly. "All the Space Marines in the Lacoan system are deployed elsewhere. I could ask for a priority redirect, but I would have to give a concrete reason." He looked a question at Kay who slowly shook her head.

"They don't know about me." Kay said softly. "It is probably better if they don't. I don't know how they would react and I would rather not find out." Karne nodded fervently and Kay shook her head. "The Emperor warned me against hubris. I may _be_ his daughter, but I am not him. I am not his equal in skill or power. I have no desire to rule anyone but myself and he will always be my Lord."

Georgia smiled at Kay as both she and the seated sister did the same religious movement in unison.

"Admirable." Ricardo was focused on his screen, his fingers flying over barely seen controls. "But without Space Marines, this gets much more difficult."

"I can call for more sisters." Karne said with a savage smile. "You know we would fight for you, Kay."

"Did you hear a _word_ I just said, Karne?" Kay demanded angrily. Karne paused, looking shocked. "I am no leader! I am _certainly_ not the Emperor."

"None of us are claiming you are." Karne said with a look at her compatriots who all shook their heads. "You are an honored elder Sister and you offer the Imperium and Emperor your body and soul. We respect for that, no more."

"Karne, I cannot lead." Kay said softly. "Even if I wanted to, I cannot. The Inquisitor certainly wouldn't follow me."

"No." Ricardo allowed.

"But I know a bunch of people who would follow _me_."


	8. Chapter 8

**Not an aid organization**

Ricardo eyed Kay as the woman argued quietly with Sister Karne. The much older sister was firmly set against taking any kind of power at all. In the deepest recesses of his soul, Ricardo was glad for that. Kay had a charisma that he could not deny. He knew without a doubt that the Sisters and many others would follow her gladly if she chose to lead. That she was refusing to spoke very highly of her own spiritual fortitude.

Then again, if one was immortal, one had likely had lots of time to develop strong walls around one's psyche.

He had to admire the fact that Kay knew her own limits and-

He snarled at himself. He was falling into the same trap! He would not let her take control of him! He was an Inquisitor for the Emperor's sake! He started a series of exercises in his mind intended to keep himself focused as he looked around the room. Little had changed. The sisters were still grim shadows against the walls, their weapons ready for any treachery on his part. He wasn't stupid. He wouldn't do anything _here_. If he tried, his life would be measured in seconds and Kay could likely take control of any of the room's defenses as easily as she took control of other tech.

Hospitallar Georgia had stepped back when Kay and Karne had started their 'discussion'. Wise of her. Mace was at her side again. Ricardo made his eyes slide away from the young sister, aware of just how sharp eyed Kay was. The elder sister was very protective of the younger. That might be an avenue for leverage, or a fast trip to hell, depending on how Kay reacted. The other sisters were almost as protective of the Hospitallar as Kay was, so tampering with the Hospitallar, while potentially feasible, was a very bad idea here and now.

"For the last time: _N_ _o_." Kay snapped and stood up, drawing every eye as Karne stepped back. "No, I will _not_ don golden armor and lead a Crusade across the system and beyond. _I am not the Emperor!_ " She actually snarled that and Karne retreated a step. "I have a _duty_ to the Emperor and I will fulfill my duty. I will keep these war machines from falling into the hands of the Ruinous Powers or the Mechanicus. If that means working with the Inquisition or others of their ilk, so be it. I will _not_ start a Crusade simply because I _can_ , Karne!" She stepped right up the recoiling sister and glared full into the taller sister's face. "I don't _care_ what happens anywhere else, Karne! My duty is all that matters!"

"The Imperium needs you." Karen sounded shaken now, almost lost.

"And I cannot save it." Kay said sadly. She took a deep breath and slowly laid a hand on Karne's shoulder. "Alicia was a far better woman than I am and _she_ couldn't save it. Karne..." She begged. "This is all I can do. All I am good for. I treasure my time with you sisters, but that is not my duty. You of all people should not try to get between me and my duty."

"What if you fall?" That came from the side where Lornan had entered the room quietly. The Sisters jerked and aimed, but Kay just nodded and they relaxed.

"The Ruinous Power do not like touching me." Kay said with a shrug. "Either how I was made or _who_ made me makes touching me painful to them. They can kill me. They have several times. But in the end? They cannot corrupt me. I would have to do that myself and I refuse to let that happen. My life and soul are the Emperor's. No one else's." Lornan bowed to her.

"Problem, Lornan?" Ricardo asked when the agent didn't move to go.

"The documents you asked for, Boss." Lornan held out a scroll to Ricardo who took it carefully.

He hadn't _asked_ for any documents, but his subordinates were very good at reading his wishes. A quick perusal showed a plan to separate Georgia from the group for several minutes. Enough time for Mary to inject her with a series of controlling mechanisms. Not a bad plan all told, but if Kay could _detect_ as well as _control_ tech, doomed. That was why this was on a scroll! To see if she could detect the plan as he read it on his augmentation! He loved capable subordinates.

"Problem, Inquisitor?" Kay asked as Ricardo mulled the pros and cons.

"Not really." Ricardo shook his head and handed the scroll back to Lornan who took it. "Lets hold off on that option for now, Lornan. We have a lot going on and the last thing we need is to add _more_ complications into the mix." Lornan nodded and left without another word. Ricardo turned back to Kay and shook his head. "Capable subordinates are both a blessing and a curse."

"So I have heard." Kay's face was blank. It was impossible to tell if she knew or not. He would have to assume she did. Safer that way. "I need to get onto that planet, Inquisitor. I deem the threat to be significant there."

"Putting it very mildly." Ricardo said sourly. "That whole world is a seething mass of madness and war. The Imperial lines are holding for now." He held up a hand when Kay opened her mouth. "Said lines could be very badly destabilized if a superheavy enemy tank were to appear behind Imperial lines."

He glared at her and she nodded. Karne stared from one to the other.

"What?" The sister asked, still reeling from Kay's dismissal of her wishes.

"He is wondering whose side I am on." Kay was calm and quiet. Georgia gave a squeak, but Kay wasn't finished. "Understandably so. He doesn't know me except as a liar and possible assassin with non-quantifiable powers."

"I see." Georgia said slowly. "And what would be required to gain your aid, Inquisitor?"

"Georgia!" Kay snapped as the Inquisitor eyed the Hospitallar whose eyes were scared over her mask, but her voice was still firm.

"You taught me to make up my own mind. He wants leverage over you and thinks I am it?" Georgia's eyes calmed. Her tone was calm and reflective now. "You are needed, I am not."

"If you touch her, I will kill you." Kay warned as the Inquisitor took a step towards Georgia. This was _more_ than a student-teacher relationship. _Much_ more.

"Do not move, inquisitor." Georgia said firmly. "I assume you have a plan to suborn me?" The Inquisitor looked at her and she scoffed. "Do not make the mistake of assuming I am a fool because of my lack of experience, Inquisitor."

"Noted." Ricardo said with a nod. "I cannot install a Mindshackle myself, but I have staff who can."

"How long will it take?" Georgia said with a nod as Kay growled something vile. Kay moved to try and grab Georgia, but the Hospitallar lithely evaded her. "We need you, Lady Kay. We need him and his resources. We need you _both_ working together. I accept, Inquisitor. If my servitude is the price for your aid? I will serve you, Inquisitor."

" _NO!_ " Kay screamed and lunged for Georgia who retreated towards the door. Mace was there and had it open long enough for them to flee though. The portal slammed in Kay's face and _physically_ latched with a click. She spun with murder in her eyes. All of the other sisters were aiming at Ricardo who hadn't moved. When Kay spoke, it was as if all the fires of hell spoke through her. " _You are a dead man._ "

"We will not harm her." Ricardo tried hard not to show how shaken he was by the sheer power in the woman's voice. That was no idle threat. _Whatever_ Georgia was to Kay, the elder sister was totally willing to kill to protect her.

" _YOU CANNOT PROMISE THAT!_ " Ricardo's eyes went huge as a mass of metal simply _appeared_ in Kay's hands. A long blade similar to the power swords used by Death Cult assassins, she held it with the familiarity of long practice. He had seen Death Cult assassins work. He had _no_ chance at this range if Kay was anywhere close to their level of skill. He didn't bother to go for his pistols, he just glared at Kay who met his glare.

"Sister…." Karne spoke up. "As you said, we need him. He needs you. He won't hurt her."

" _Hurting people is what he does_." Kay was still using that awful voice, taking a slow, measured step forward, the blade in her hand singing in the air. Ricardo's thoughts took a sudden leap to the side. Why would this immortal, ancient woman be reacting like an enraged…

"You are her mother."

He hit the wall with a clang, his armor readouts showing red all across his displays. Before he could even realize that Kay had hit him hard enough to knock him the entire length of the compartment, she was on him, holding him off the ground by the collar of his power armor with _one hand!_ Words crawled across his optic readout.

 _If you_ **ever** _speak or write those words again, I will_ **find** _you and I will make you death last for_ **weeks** _._

How was she overriding his ocular processor? How was she holding him up so easily? He felt fear like he had never felt in his life as her eyes flared golden. This _wasn't_ the calm and assured woman he had just been discussing things with. No. _This_ was the _Emperor's daughter!_ The Emperor of Mankind's _wrath_ made manifest.

"Kay!" Karne actually sounded shaken now. "Stay with us, Sister." A quick look showed all five of the sisters kneeling with bowed heads. "The Emperor, our sword and protector. From the Lightning and the Tempest,..."

"...Emperor deliver us." Kay quoted the holy words absently, her fiery eyes slowly returning to normal. She lowered the Inquisitor to the ground and then released his collar. She stepped back and the blade that hadn't left her other hand vanished as if it had never been. Then she went to her own knees and started to pray.

"There are certain people you should not anger, Inquisitor." Karne rose and moved to stand beside Kay as the elder sister prayed. "My Order has seen such happen twice. Both times, she swore the sisters who witnessed it to silence. They kept silence but they left records that were sealed as per her wishes. When we were sent to seek her, we were allowed access to all the records. You are very lucky to be alive, Inquisitor. Georgia cannot be Kay's daughter." Karne laid a hand on Kay's shoulder. "She cannot reproduce."

"How can you be sure-?" Ricardo started, only to freeze as Kay's eyes caught his and they were glowing again.

"Do you _really_ want to know?" Kay asked in a sickly sweet voice. Karne's hand clenched on her shoulder.

"Kay!" Karne warned and Kay went back to her prayers. "You do not want to know, Inquisitor. You _do_ _not_." The veteran sister warned. "Drop that line of inquiry before it kills you and everyone else on this ship!"

"I see." Ricardo was many things. He had been many things over the course of his varied career. 'Stupid' had never one of them. "As I said, we will not harm her and if she does serve me? I will protect her."

"Until she becomes inconvenient or you do not need her anymore." Kay had finished her prayers and rise, shaking off Karne's hand as if the power armored fingers were inconsequential. Maybe they were if she was really that strong. "Then if she is _lucky_ , you will put a bolt round through her skull."

"There are worse fates." Ricardo said quietly. "You won't believe any oath I swear."

"No." Kay's tone spoke volumes into that short negative.

"Then all I can do is show action." Ricardo turned to the side and spoke into empty air. "Com room? Put me through to General Sentars of the 743rd Elysian."

"Inquisitor Illusmar?" A hologram appeared in midair. The woman wore Imperial Guard uniform, but it was odd in a hard way to define. Were those wings on her chest? "What can the drop troops do for you?"

"We have a situation, General." Ricardo said without preamble. "Lacoan VI is enough of a mess as it is, but we just learned of a large cache of military gear left over from the Great Crusade." The general's eyes widened. "The last thing we need is the enemy getting their hands on such."

"What are the odds such gear is functional after so long, Inquisitor?" The general was waving to the side and movement shone behind her as she looked from him to other things that were outside of the holo's pickups. "My regiment is available, but as you say, that planet is a _mess_. What is held now may not be in an hour."

"I know." Ricardo said heavily. "I hope and pray it isn't functional, but we have word of a possible superheavy tank in that cache. A similar one was opened and the gear worked. I don't have to explain how bad things may get if the traitors get their hands on a Baneblade or something like one."

"Emperor!" General Sentars scowled and then nodded. "My regiment can be in the air within the hour, sir. Orders?"

"We may need to secure the area around the cache for some time to access the vehicle to extract or destroy. The rest of the gear may or may not be recoverable. That tank must be denied to the enemy at all costs." Ricardo said with a nod. "I will have precise coordinates sent shortly on a secure link but presume the worst. A hot drop and enemy territory."

"Yes, sir!" The general snapped a salute and Ricardo returned it. The holo vanished and he spun to look at Kay who was eyeing him warily.

"I need the coordinates." The Inquisitor said firmly. Kay did not move. "A regiment of Elysian Drop Troops will be able to secure the depot long enough to get you to the tank."

"Kay." Karne said quietly when Kay still didn't move. "Duty first."

Kay growled, a low and dangerous sound. Then she gave herself a shake and rose to her full height. She handed something to Karne who took it and stared at it. A dataslate. It showed a set of coordinates on a planet marked Lacaon VI. Karne looked at Kay and then stepped to the Inquisitor and handed the dataslate to him. He took it and fed it into a nearby receptacle for such then he started perusing the data. It was fairly complete, showing an area in the middle of the largest continent, away from any major population centers and… He paused.

"There is an interdiction area around those coordinates." Ricardo said slowly as he turned to look at Kay. "The Adeptus Mechanicus have claimed that area."

"If you want them to get it and have it self destruct,..." Kay still wasn't happy. "Feel free."

"And you knew." Ricardo said flatly. "You would have had us drop in on them and probably start a firefight."

"A bunch of cogs do not concern me." Kay could have been discussing solar weather now. "The fact that the _last_ time they stole one of those it blew up in their faces when they tried to start it and they took _half a continent_ with them _does_."

"How many times?" Ricardo asked slowly. Kay just glared at him. "How many times have you done this?"

"Those subhuman scum stole the Emperor's property once, they will _never_ do so again." Kay declared. "Either I reach the tank and evacuate it or it blows itself and anyone else in proximity to hell. The last time, it was a Stormhammer. This time? I dunno how big it will be. Probably not smaller."

"What happened?" Ricardo asked.

"What do you care?" Kay snapped. "Do it or don't do it. Either way, my duty _will_ be done."

"Lady Kay." Georgia's voice preceded the Hospitallar into the room. Her helmet was gone and her head had been shaved. She didn't seem different otherwise. Her eyes were subdued as she looked at Kay. "He wishes to act, but needs information."

"And I should trust you now." Kay snapped at Georgia who looked hurt.

"She has done nothing to deserve your ire." The Inquisitor said quietly. "She is trying to help you accomplish your mission."

"By letting _you_ enslave her. Stop!" Kay growled dangerously as Georgia took a step forward. The Hospitallar stopped. "Fine. Yes, I knew. I even know who is in charge of the scum and yes, I would dearly _love_ to see them _all_ as particulate vapor after all the pain they have caused me. My duty to the Emperor will be done even if I have to do it over _your_ corpse, _Georgia's_ and _every one else on this ship's_. They will _not_ get that tank."

"His will be done." Karne said flatly, her sisters echoing her. All had their weapons readied.

"There is no need for that." Ricardo fought hard for calm. Kay like this was _terrifying_. "I agree that the Mechanicus cannot be trusted any more than the bulk of the Inquisition can be."

" _You_ can be trusted to act in your own self interest." Kay grated that out. "The Mechanicus? _They_ act out of whim. Oh, they _say_ it is in service of their Machine God, but it is whim. They see cool tech and they say 'ooo, mine!' Who cares how many die in the process? Not important. Who cares how many Imperial worlds are lost as result? Not important. The last time they stole the Emperor's property it took me _three centuries_ to find and destroy it to keep the morons from wiping out an entire planetary system with their idiocy. They are not taking it again."

"Can they reproduce it?" Ricardo asked slowly.

"Those _quacks_?" Kay demanded. Then she laughed derisively. "Replicate the _Emperor's_ personal work? No. Can they break it with catastrophic results? Sure. Reproduce it? Not a chance in hell." Her smile held grim promise or madness. Maybe a bit of both.

"Good." Ricardo's smile matched Kay's. "Then I only have one further question for you." Kay made a 'get on with it' gesture and he nodded.

"Have you ever used a grav chute?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Minds that matter**

"Lady Kay."

Ricardo fought not to sigh as Georgia tried yet again to get Kay's attention. Kay ignored her again. At least this time, the Hospitallar did not try to approach. Not after being body blocked by one of the sisters when she approached too close the last time. She hadn't expected to be slammed to the floor by one of the militant sisters and to look up into the muzzle of the sister's flamer. The sheer hurt on her face would have been heartbreaking if the Inquisitor let himself feel such. Kay on the other hand, could have been carved from stone. She hadn't reacted to Georgia's increasingly impassioned pleas at all.

The shuttle they were in was large, but felt very small and cramped with Kay simmering softly at one end and Ricardo sitting as far from her as he could. That wasn't fear. That was simply common _sense_.

"Sister Georgia." Ricardo said softly as Georgia looked like she was going to take a step that way. "You need to strap in and put your helmet on. We will be arriving at the air field in a few minutes and there are attacks even that far back."

"I..." Georgia swallowed whatever else she was going to say and sat, strapping herself in carefully. Her helmet went back on fro where she had taken it off to plead with Kay. "Yes, sir." She bowed her head, soft prayers falling from her lips.

Kay had refused to speak to Georgia since the just after the sister had returned from Mary's tender care. The other sisters had closed up around Kay, but whether that was to protect _her_ or to protect everyone else _from_ her, it was hard to say. Whatever she was, she was _dangerous_ when she got angry, Whatever powers she had were enhanced by her rage. The only good thing was that she was a true servant of the Emperor. The bad? _When_ , not _if_ , she decided someone needed to die? He would. Inquisitor or no, if she decided that one Ricardo Illusmar had outlived his usefulness? He was done. Ricardo Illusmar did not like that feeling one little bit.

"Sergeant? What is the current status of the base?" Ricardo called.

"Current front lines are holding for the moment, sir." Lisa's voice was taut from the cockpit. She much preferred a space capable Valkyrie for such jaunts. These kinds of shuttles were slow and almost completely unarmed. "Our escorts are less than enthused about being down here in the muck, but they are doing their job and no enemy birds are showing."

"That won't last." Ricardo said sourly. "As soon as the 743rd takes off, all hell will break loose."

"Are we going to tell Imperial High Command about this?" Georgia asked a bit plaintively. She was still hurting from Kay cutting her off so completely.

"I notified them that I am redeploying the 743rd to cover a potential flashpoint behind the lines." Ricardo shrugged when Georgia looked at him. "They didn't ask any more than that. Smart people."

"Terrified of you, more like." Kay snapped.

"Whatever gets the job done." Ricardo replied calmly. "Are you mission capable?"

"Try me." The fires of hell sang in her voice again. "Please."

"Kay..." Karne's voice was resigned. She seemed to be relegated to playing peacemaker between Kay and Ricardo now. A role she was ill suited for. "We need him to coordinate the forces and deal with the Mechanicus. If they see you, you know what they will do."

"I know what she will _try_." Kay growled. Georgia jerked but Kay was praying again.

"'She'?" Georgia asked softly. Kay ignored her yet again.

"The leader of the Mechanicus on planet is a Magos named Rebekah." Ricardo said softly, eyeing Kay. "Do I want to know how Kay knows that one?"

"She dissected me last time." Kay snapped. Georgia gagged and Ricardo nodded. "So _yes_ , if I get a shot at her with no repercussions, I _will_ take it. I packed Kraken rounds just for her."

Armor piercing bolter round would tear through most common and many _uncommon_ Adeptus Mechanicus defenses like a hot knife through butter. Kay wore armor that was identical to the other sisters. Somehow, Ricardo hadn't been surprised at all that the sisters had brought a suit sized for her, with a sarissa equipped boltgun and other wargear no less. The blade she had threatened him with now hung down beside the power pack of her armor. It had apparently been carried for her by another sister and he still had no clue how she had pulled it to herself or made it vanish so quickly.

" _We_ will take it." Karne's voice held no emotion at all now.

Ricardo actually put a hand to his face as Mace and Lornan both looked at him. Mace wore his usual heavy armor with suppression shield and shock rod, Lornan wore Imperial Guard armor with Inquisition insignia and carried a lasgun with the ease of long familiarity. He wasn't a true combat specialist, but he was no slouch at it either. They made a good team, Mace taking the fire and Lornan taking out the enemies while their attention was on Mace. With Georgia added to the mix, they would be able to fight harder. Mary was not combat personnel and Ricardo had clapped her in stasis to await his return. He didn't trust her around the crew unsupervised.

"Let's try talking first." Ricardo said with a sigh. "Both my superiors and the Imperial Guard on the planet would appreciate us not starting a war with the tech-priests in the middle of one with Chaos."

"No promises." Kay retorted and returned to her prayers. None of the other sisters bothered to comment.

"Orders, sir?" Georgia asked quietly.

"Stay behind me." Ricardo said with a nod to the Hospitallar. "You are part of my retinue now, so I expect you to do what you do to keep myself, Mace and Lornan standing. You are not armed, but you are an extra pair of eyes. Keep your head on a swivel. Try to stay quiet if you can, but if you see a threat, call it out. There are always those with grudges against the Inquisition. It is highly unlikely that such will act in the middle of an Imperial Guard base as the regiment it houses is gearing up for combat, but such has happened. If something _does_ happen? Take cover behind Mace and let us handle it. You are here to heal, not to fight."

"Yes, sir." Georgia said with a nod, checking her armor pouches by touch. She still wore her Sororitas gear, there hadn't even been time to adorn any of it with Inquisition markings. Then again, that might be a deterrent in and of itself. Only a fool angered the Sororitas after all.

"Twenty to dirt." Lisa's calm voice came from the cockpit. "Valkyries and Vultures all over the place. A squadron of Thunderbolts are prepping." She made a noise of almost lust. A very rare thing for her. "They have a pair of Avengers loading up with stand off missiles too."

"Good." Ricardo smiled grimly. "They took my warning seriously."

The Avenger Strike Fighter was the Imperial Navy's premier ground support aircraft. Capable of both space and atmospheric flight, its main cannon was a threat to anything ground based up to and including some Titan war machines. That didn't even begin to include the _other_ ordnance it could carry. Tanks were almost always an Avenger's primary targets. Superheavy tanks in particular. If they spotted a target? It would die. Period.

The shuttle lurched and settled as Lisa set it down gently. Ricardo was out of his seat and at the hatch before the engines started to wind down. Mace was at his side, Lornana mere moments behind the other two. Georgia fumbled with her straps and finally rose, face flaming to stand with them. Lornan smiled reassurance at her and she relaxed as Ricardo eyed Kay who hadn't moved.

"Will you stay in here or must I have guards put around you?" The Inquisitor asked coldly.

"Like you won't have guards _anyway_?" Kay replied just as coldly. "And as if they could hold us."

"Starting a fight in the middle of this base serves no purpose." Ricardo said flatly. "If you are ruled by your bloodlust..." He broke off as she glared at him.

"If I was ruled by bloodlust, you would be in three pieces." No bravado. Simple fact. "Go. Talk to the cog for all the good it will do. She won't let you anywhere near it until she has what she wants. Of course, _when_ she gets what she wants, half of this _continent_ may vanish in a titanic fireball, but hey, who cares?" She mocked. "They want the Emperor's tech? They will get it. In about a _billion_ scattered atoms."

"Stay here." Ricardo fought hard not to sigh again as he opened the hatch and stepped out of the shuttle. His retinue followed him and he had to smile just a little as Georgia gave a small 'eep' of astonishment at the sight that greeted them.

Imperial Guard regiments were as varied as the planets they came from. The best known had always been the Cadian regiments. With the loss of Cadia during the 13th Black Crusade of Abbadon the Despoiler, the galaxy had lost a huge bastion against the forces of Chaos but they had also created many legends. The Despoiler had devastated the planet and the resulting warp rifts from the collapse had dimmed the Astronomicon and essentially split the Imperium in two, true. It had cost him far more than any previous Black Crusade ever had. The loss of Cadia would echo for millennia across the Imperium, but if anything? The Guard fought harder, knowing that there was hope for beating the foul enemy and knowing the cost better than any. Cadia had always been the example, the iconic Imperial Guard.

Elysian regiments were not Cadian.

Where the Cadian standard was a tide of infantry supported by heavy armor and artillery, Elysian troops were far more specialized. Where the Cadians ground their enemies to dust under their boot heels and the treads of their tanks, Elysians simply bypassed them, dropping into the heart of enemy territory to lay waste to specific targets with surgical precision. Oh, they could and did take and hold ground like any Guard, but their main job was always to strike hard and fast. To hit targets and withdraw as quickly as they appeared. They were no Astartes, but their mobility and precision was second to few within the Guard.

They were the Drop Troops. In ancient times, they would have been called 'paratroopers' and they were justifiably feared.

This entire side of the airfield was packed from one end of the tarmac to the other with Valkyrie transports. Each was loading troops. The Valkyrie was a very common Imperial Guard aircraft, but the Drop Troops used them as both transport and close support vehicles. Instead of heavy armor, the Drop Troops relied on air support to deal with heavy enemy forces that their regular weapons could not touch. Few enemies could withstand repeated air strikes by the Imperial Navy.

Georgia stared as a pair of highly modified Sentinels were slowly backed into specialized carriers. They too could be dropped from the air. Ricardo ignored her as a squad of Drop Troopers trotted up. He nodded to their sergeant as they began to deploy around the shuttle.

"No one gets in, sergeant." Ricardo said flatly. The sergeant nodded. "If any tries, if they are _lucky_ , they will die. If you need it moved, my pilot is aboard and up on channel sixteen."

"Yes sir!" The woman snapped him a salute, but he was moving already and the sergeant dropped the salute as Ricardo swept across the field, heading for a metal structure off to one side marked 'HQ'.

"Why would they need it moved?" Georgia asked as she hurried to keep up with the striding man. Again, Ricardo ignored her, but Lornan spoke up.

"Only so many landing spots for shuttles this big." The agent was unfazed by all this. Hardly the first Imperial Guard base they had been to. "Eyes up!" He warned as a pair of mechanical monstrosities appeared ahead, sweeping out of a large door and taking up position on either side. "Damn. They brought Skitarii."

"You would think they don't trust us." Georgia muttered. Lornan chuckled and Mace shook his head, the huge armored man's head never stopping its sweeps.

"Lots of distrust on all sides." Lornan said as a squad of Drop Troops exited the building. Half of them were armed with meltaguns and they made no attempt to hide that they were aiming at the Mechanicus. For their part the mechanical parodies of men held themselves silent and ready. Each had several things attached which had to be weapons. Georgia felt both revulsion and fascination looking at them. How human were they?

Ricardo ignored both groups, striding towards the door. Georgia followed, but came to a sudden halt as a metal tentacle swept out from one of the Mechanicus things to wrap around her closest wrist. She tried to shake it free, but it wasn't budging and her armor whined as something started to cut through it. Mace was at her side and slammed his shield into the tentacle to no effect. Lornan had his lasgun aimed for all the good that would do against a mass of metal.

"Release my agent." Ricardo said in a soft and dangerous voice. "Now."

++++Unknown variable. Investigating.++++ What kind of voice was _that_?

"This is your only warning, Mechanicus." Ricardo didn't have a weapon in hand. "You interfere with my work at your peril."

The Drop Troops were eyeing him, but he ignored them as well to focus on the Skitarii thing. Georgia gave another small 'eep' as the mechanical monstrosity tried to pull her closer to itself. Mace was having none of that though and took firm hold of her. She was being pulled apart by two irresistible forces. Her arm was on fire and she was getting close to her edge of pain tolerance. She was-

 **Bang**

The tentacle around her arm suddenly went limp and Georgia could only stare at the Skitarii as it fell, half of its cranium gone. She looked at the Inquisitor as he holstered his bolt pistol. His plasma pistol was aimed at the other Skitarii who hadn't moved.

"She is with me." Ricardo said in a mild voice to the other machine thing.

+++Unknown variable is unknown.++++ The other thing said.

"Relay _this_ to your boss: She. Is. With. Me." Ricardo's tone turned frosty and despite the warmth of the day, Georgia shivered at the cold malice in her superior's voice. "If you Mechanicus want a war with the Inquisition, feel free to start one again. It won't be close to the first time and it rarely ends well for you."

"Impetuous as always, Inquisitor Illusmar. Our records do not do you justice." A soft, almost cultured voice preceded a red robed woman into view. "There was no need for such crude violence."

"Yes, Magos." Ricardo did not lower his pistol. "Violence should always be refined. Cultured. Clean." He scoffed. "Or at least not where delicate non-human egos can see it."

"That one is odd." The tech priest was eyeing Georgia who tried hard not to cower behind Mace. Lornan flanked her, lasgun up and ready. She checked her arm, but whatever had been cutting into her armor hadn't breached it.

" _That one_ is not your concern." Ricardo said with a grunt. "Your concern is that the facility you are unearthing contains something extremely volatile, both politically _and_ radioactively ."

"What do you know of that place?" The tech–priest demanded.

"I know this is not a conversation we should he having outside." Ricardo did not move. "And I know that if you threaten my agent, I will kill you."

"That one is familiar." The tech-priest said slowly. "But the Machine God demands and we obey."

She turned and went back into the building. To Georgia's horror, the Skitarii Ricardo had shot rose up and stood away from her, its skull still hanging open and dripping vile fluids. She gagged. At least it did not reach for her again. If it did? Despite her training and the Mindshackle, she might flee.

"Deep breaths. Don't puke in your helmet." Lornan warned her as Ricardo started after the tech-priest.

Georgia took three deep breaths and followed the Inquisitor, Mace and Lornan flanking her as they passed the Skitarii whose heads whirred as sensors tracked them. No, her!

Ricardo's mind was whirling as Georgia followed him. Did the tech-priests know who Georgia was? Did they have any idea Kay was here? Would that be good or bad?

He staked into the command center and all the hushed conversation stopped as if cut off with a sword. He strode to the main holo table where the general was standing with a Lord Commissar.

"General Sentars. Lord Commissar Samms." He nodded to the pair who nodded back. "Status?"

"Loading is proceeding." The general reported. "90% now. The rest will be up inside twenty minutes. If they do that, we will beat our best record by a whole ten minutes." The Commissar smiled at that and Ricardo had to admit, that was pretty good for an hour's notice from a stand down state. Elysian troops were no lightweights and knew full well the value of speed.

"Good." The Inquisitor turned to the tech-priest who stood to the side, several servitors and data savants clustered around her. "I am not even going to bother asking if you were going to tell us about the tank. You were not. But you will not try to access it."

All of the guard looked confused as the tech-priest froze in place. But her gaze was on _Georgia_!

"It is here?" Was that _fear_ in the tech-priest's voice?

"Clarify." Ricardo could be just as unemotional as a cog when he chose to be. It had an unquestioned effect on others when he wished speedy results.

"It is here, isn't it?" The tech-priest's visible face was paling. "The abomination."

"The one you dissected?" Ricardo asked quietly. "The one who blew up the last of those tanks that you stole?"

The tech-priest seemed to stiffen and then to wilt. Then she did something very odd. She looked Georgia full in the face and spoke softly.

"I _am_ sorry, child."

Georgia gave a short scream that cut off as energy enveloped her. Then she and all of the tech-priests were gone!


	10. Chapter 10

**Unknowns**

The Commissar and General were both frozen. Ricardo spun to Lornan with a glare and the agent nodded. He moved to a nearby scanner console, the guardsman there making way for him quickly. Lornan's fingers flew over the scanner, his own skill far better than any Guard.

"What just happened?" The general demanded, face ashen.

"The Mechanicus betrayed us." Ricardo snapped back and _everything_ in the HQ stopped except for Lornan's tapping the keys. "They found that cache and were going to pilfer it without telling anyone else. The problem is that the vehicle inside is very temperamental according my information and the _last_ time they did such, it blew up in their faces." He paused and then shook his head. "Literally. The reactor melted down."

"Ouch." The General shook her head. "And they took your agent."

"Which was a tactical error on their part." Ricardo said with a snarl. "I implanted her with a tracker that even _they_ will have difficulty removing or negating." Both the General and the Commissar looked at him and he shook his head. "How are we on planning the assault?"

"Considering they are _supposed_ to be allies, I was kind of hoping not to have to." The General admitted. "But if you will look here..." She indicated the holo table and a screen showed a cluster of prefabricated buildings on the surface of the planet. "We have not been able to get any drones close enough to do a full scan. They shoot them down. This is from the transport 'Oricius' in orbit."

The Inquisitor looked at the scan and shook his head, pointing at a position on the map. "Is that what I think it is?"

"If you think that is one of five long range anti-air missile emplacements, then yes sir." The General said sourly. "They have a range that is prohibitive to any conceivable air assault force and we do not know their targeting parameters. I doubt they consider us friendly after this last little stunt. We do not have time to neutralize them quietly, do we?"

"No." Ricardo said flatly. "But we also have no men to waste in stupid frontal attacks. _I_ will handle those. Get me coms to the closest Imperial Navy vessel with ground strike capability." Eyes shot up all around the room at that but no one commented. Inquisitors _could_ order orbital strikes. "Consider those removed."

"With those out of the way, we have access for our close air support to take on the interior defenses." General Sentars said with a nod. "We are planning a combined arms assault that should overwhelm what we know about their forces on planet and then some."

"They won't have told everything they have in place." Ricardo said with a frown. Sentars nodded. "Which you planned for."

"Two Avengers and a squadron of Thunderbolts with close air support packages should take out any heavy armor they put out." Sentars agreed. "We land two companies here and here..." She pointed at two spots on the map. "That is inside their demonstrated air defense range, so we have to reduce that threat before we can go in with any chance of success. Permission to start putting assets into place to begin suppression of enemy air defenses?"

"Granted." Ricardo said with a growl that was echoed around the room. The General nodded, keyed her com and started speaking quietly into it. Moments later, a whining roar started outside. It quickly dwindled. Then there was another.

"Sir!" A com tech called. "Imperial Navy Cruiser 'Righteous Fist of Vengeance' is replying to our call for orbital fire support. They require authorization codes."

Ricardo stepped to the tech grimly. He knew this would be a bad day for a lot of people, hopefully most of them servants of the Omnissiah. He just hoped he could explain to Kay what had happened before she killed him.

* * *

Ten minutes later

He needn't have worried.

By the time Ricardo had finalized the orbital strike and set the General's plan in motion, Kay and the other sisters had joined him in the HQ. The sisters' presence stilled everyone just as much or more so than the Inquisitor's arrival had. Even the Lord Commissar stepped carefully around Sororitas it seemed. Smart man.

Kay was ice cold. She barely reacted when he told her what had happened. Only a hint of movement around her nostrils betrayed any emotion at all. _Karne_ on the other hand…

"Some 'safety'." 'Extremely unhappy' did not not quite portray the veteran sister's emotional state. 'Very angry' was an understatement. Luckily, most of her anger was directed at the Mechanicus who had taken Georgia, not Ricardo, but the flash in her eyes promised pain if she ever got the chance to deliver it. "Tell me again, Inquisitor, how you were going to _protect_ the Hospitallar."

"No one could have anticipated that they would do something as insane as abscond with her." Ricardo said again, not that it did any good. Karne was looking for a fight and he was not going to give her one. Not here. Not now. They had more important things than her anger and she knew it. Which just made her angrier. "We are tracking her."

"And?" Karne demanded. "Are you sure she is alive?"

"No." Ricardo admitted. "We cannot be sure. She chose this, Veteran Sister Karne."

"Because _you_ left her no choice." Karne said with a growl that was pure malice. "Understand this, _Honored Inquisitor_..." There was precious little respect in the sister's words. "Her Canoness made me responsible for her safety. If she is harmed, I will hold _you_ responsible. Do I make myself clear?"

Ricardo nodded, his attention on Lornan who was still working the scanner. The agent sat back with a smile and Ricardo was at his side in an instant.

"Got her." Lornan said with a nod. "Smack dab in the middle of that fortification that the Mechanicus erected near the coordinates."

"It is a lab, not a fortification." Kay said quietly. "Although with them? Such distinctions are moot. It will be heavily defended."

"Our objective is the tank." Ricardo replied and Kay nodded.

"If they activate that and they _will_ try if they can, they are very likely to blow themselves and the surrounding area to hell." Kay said with a small frown. "There is no large scale reactor to chain react with here, so it is highly unlikely to irradiate more than a few hundred square kilometers..." At _that_ , everyone in the room but Kay winced. "...still, we need to prevent that if we can. That tank is the Emperor's. The Mechanicus must not befoul it."

"How soon can we go in, general?" Ricardo asked.

"Reports coming in now." The General did not look up from her holoscreen. "'Righteous Fist of Vengeance' reports fire mission completed. Their post attack scans show all long range missile batteries and over the horizon scanning arrays obliterated. I am surprised the Mechanicus didn't try to jam our targeting."

"They didn't expect anyone to find them so soon?" Ricardo was looking at Kay whose face was a stone mask. "Or maybe a trap."

"Only one way to find out." Karne was checking her bolt pistol, the other sisters doing the same for their own weapons. Kay was still a statue.

"Right." Ricardo took a deep breath and nodded again. "Begin suppression of enemy air defenses, General. My team will be going in with the second wave."

"Do you need one Valkyrie or two?" The General was no fool. She could see the tension between the sisters and the Inquisitor even as the men in the background moved to start packing up the command center. They would reassemble it on site.

"One." Ricardo and Kay said in unison. The sister and the Inquisitor eyed each other, but Kay did not speak again and Ricardo shrugged.

"My pilot is qualified for Valkyries and Vultures." Ricardo said after a moment. "Do you need another pilot?"

"We have extra birds." General Sentars said quietly. "If you want your pilot to fly you, he or she better get out and preflight the bird now."

"No offense, General, but Master Sergeant Korniazal had gotten me into and out of more scrapes than I care to remember." Ricardo said with a small smile. "She has more hours than most of your pilots put together. Lornan? Get on the com. Tell Lisa to seal the shuttle and get with HQ here to find a bird for us."

"Yes, boss." Lornan pulled out his com and started speaking into it.

The Elysians were moving and Ricardo started after them, Mace and Lornan forming up around him. The sisters followed, still surrounding Kay. The General paused and stepped close to Ricardo who nodded as she kept walking towards the assembly area and the waiting transports. In the distance, he could see a blue uniform moving around one of the Valkyries. Lisa wasted no time at all when combat was imminent.

"The one thing we haven't covered, sir..." General Sentars said softly. "Rules of Engagement?" Ricardo just looked at her and she made a face. "The Mechanicus are allies. Sort of."

"Allies who have acted against us." Ricardo said with a nod. "While I do not like the idea of fighting them while there is a war on here either, we _cannot_ allow them to activate that vehicle and they will not listen to reason. I want my agent back if possible. Prisoners would be nice. I could go for some answers, but do not risk your men." He said sternly. "We will need them on this hellhole."

"Yes sir." Sentars took a deep breath and then keyed her com again as she walked. "ROE is as follows: Weapons free on any Mechanicus. Prisoners if you can safely, but take no chances. They are devious and have better tech than any of the rest of us take for granted. Do not turn your backs on them." She shut her com off and her eyes flicked to the armored women following Ricardo. "The Sisters?"

"They are escorting the specialist." Ricardo said with a nod. "And yes, they are very angry with me for losing the other."

"I never would have guessed, sir." General Sentars said with a grimace. Her eyes held another question that she did not voice. Ricardo shook his head. While Sentars's men were good, well trained and equipped, they were not even _remotely_ the equals of the Adeptas Sororitas and Kay was a joker in the deck besides. It was _possible_ that Sentars could lay an ambush to take them out, but even if they succeeded in taking the sisters by surprise, victory in such a close range firefight was not guaranteed. The sisters had better armor and weapons. More likely all it would do was get a whole bunch of men killed and make the sisters even angrier.

"See to your men, General." The Inquisitor strode up to the Valkyrie where the blue armored guardswoman was finishing her preflight. The General saluted and strode off. "Sergeant?"

"Bird checks out, sir." Lisa had her rifle in hand as the Sororitas clumped up after Ricardo. "Um… Lornan told me about Georgia. Orders?"

"We have to secure the vehicle, Sergeant." Ricardo said with a sigh. She didn't like leaving people behind. That was who and what she was. Then again, he didn't like like losing members of his retinue either. It was both embarrassing and inconvenient. "Lornan traced her to a lab nearby, if we get the chance, we will search for her but vehicle is priority."

"Do we know why they wanted her or what they are going to do to her?" Lisa asked, her face almost plaintive.

Wonder of wonders, _Kay_ responded.

"They won't kill her." Kay said quietly enough that it was hard to her over all the engines spooling up. Everyone looked at her and she shook her head. "I can't go into why. There are secrets piled on secrets, many of which no one here is cleared for. But they won't kill her."

" _No one?_ " Lisa stared at Kay and then at Ricardo who nodded. "I… see. Ready to lift, boss. Say the word."

"Let's go." Ricardo started of the rear hatch as Lisa moved towards the cockpit. "The sooner we get there, the sooner we can secure the vehicle and get some answers."

He did not miss Karne looked at Kay and both grim Sororitas slowly shaking their heads.

* * *

Somewhere

Georgia was cold. So very cold. What had happened? She was confused. Everything was gray and cold. Her armor was gone and she was lying on something cold. She couldn't move, couldn't speak.

++++You will not be harmed.++++

The words came from nowhere. They seemed to be coming directly into her skull! Heresy! Blasphemy! Some kind of psyker scum was mucking into her brain! She had to resist! She called on the Emperor to shield her from the blasphemy.

++++No.++++ The other sounded upset now. ++++Oh, child. This is _technology_ , not _blasphemy_. You do not know who and what you are. We do not have time to explain. We _are_ sorry for this, but it is needed.++++

That was the only warning Georgia had before red hot agony tore into her skull. She was floating on a sea of pain, screaming prayers to the God Emperor as the pain tore through every single fiber of her being.

Then it stopped.

++++Mindshackle removed. Damage is extensive but repairable.++++ The other sounded upset. Something soft wrapped around Georgia as she cried. ++++The abomination is coming. We cannot stand against it and the Imperial Guard. We must flee. You will come with us.++++

 _Why are you doing this?_ Georgia begged in her mind even as the pain faded to a sharp memory. She couldn't speak aloud, but somehow, the other heard her.

++++The Inquisitor's Mindshackle tore bits of your psyche but you are resilient enough to recover fully.++++ The other sounded pleased. ++++We calculated that you would be resilient enough to handle such. The pain will not repeat. We will not harm you further. We have been looking for you for almost twenty years, child. We will protect you.++++

 _Why?_ Georgia begged even as warmth suffused every pore and she was falling. She was going under! She fought hard to stay awake, knowing it was fruitless.

++++You will know in time, child. Rest now in the arms of the Omnissiah, Child of the Machine God.++++

Then she knew no more.

* * *

The Mechanicus lab

Magos Rebekah Sarariss was not a particularly devout being. She had not been since her ascension to the ranks of the priesthood of Mars. But she _was_ praying as Georgia's still form was slowly lowered into the pod that would be her home for the foreseeable future. The girl seemed so small and so slight, but she was as the Omnissiah had predicted. _Everything_ was happening as the Omnissiah's calculations had predicted.

The abomination had returned just as predicted. The depot that had been found had sent some kind of signal, just as predicted. No Mechanicus scanner had picked up anything, but if this one here, the abomination was not far behind. Rebekah had sacrificed much to achieve her current position, but some small fragment of her humanity remained under the robes and mass of mechanical parts. That small part was weeping in relief as Georgia was laid in the pod and the interior swelled to cushion her still body.

Machines were all around Georgia now. Some helped her breathe. Others filtered her blood and checked for disturbances. Still others washed her skin with soft unguents intended to both soothe and protect. Mechanicus machines would provide nutrients and still others would carry away waste. She was _safe_. Finally!

The Magos nodded to the closest underpriest and her subordinate slowly held out the holy headgear. Rebekah took it gingerly, it was a far heavier than it looked. She paused, checking every sensor, every single telltale. Everything was green. She laid the device in place and the collar clicked closed. She stepped back as the tendrils of the machine slid around Georgia's head, the red stone in the middle of the device glowing with fell energies as the device coiled around Georgia's skull, sealing the stone to her forehead.

 _WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?_

The furious mental voice was not Georgia. It was female, but it did not sound human. The reddish light was surrounding her now. It hit the edges of the pod and went no further.

 _You fools! What have you done?_

"The Omnissiah has decreed that this one will be protected." Rebekah said quietly. "You will protect her."

 _Do you have ANY idea what you just did?_ The other demanded. _You just sent up a flare across the entire Webway! Every single Eldar just saw that!_

"You will take us to Mars." The tech-priest said sternly. "We will travel via Webway."

 _Are you insane?_ The other snapped. _I do not have the power to…_ The voice paused and then gasped. _No. No… You stupid Mon'Keigh… You didn't… A child? You did_ **that** _to a_ **child?** _Small_ **wonder** _that human shaped thing wants you dead_ _so badly_ _!_

"You will take us into the Webway." Rebekah said sternly. "We will provide power and locomotion. You will guide us to Mars so this child can reach her new home."

 _No._ The other snapped. _I will not doom an innocent for your amusement. I also have no wish to cross the abomination you so fear._

"I can compel you, spirit." The tech-priest laid a slow appendage in the machine that coiled around Georgia's head. "You know I can."

 _Then do it._ The ancient Elder contained in the soul stone retorted. _Damage the vessel of you precious Omnissiah's prophecy. Not that any of you primitives would know true prophecy if it bit you._ She gasped as energy flared around the stone. _No! Don't!_

"How much of the substructure do I need to break before your soul stone shatters?" Rebekah asked mildly. "I have always been curious about that."

 _You Mon'Keigh think you know it all._ The other said softly. _You know nothing! You call me evil? You who abuse a child for this necromancy?_

"You are xenos. Trickery and evil made manifest." Rebekah did not relent and the energy continued to flash around the stone. "We are going to Mars. We can access the Webway. We lacked a guide. You will guide us."

 _You **are** insane!_ The other said sharply. _If you enter the Webway with my stone unshielded, you will draw the attention of everyone_ _and every_ **thing** _in range._ Rebekah actually smiled as she withdrew her appendage. The girl's eyes shot open, but they were pure black, not human eyes. The voice that came from her mouth was not Georgia. Georgia's face contorted in fear that was not human. "You… no..."

"The body will shield your emissions." Rebekah said firmly as the stone was covered by metal that coiled further around Georgia's head.

"You don't know what you are doing." The Eldar spirit wasn't begging. Not quite yet. "My mind will destroy hers!"

"No, it won't. And even if it does?" Rebekah said with a shrug.

"The Omnissiah really wants its child back."


	11. Chapter 11

**Might not be able to update tomorrow because of weather. So... enjoy!**

* * *

 **Converging**

Kay recoiled a little in her seat, her face suddenly stricken. Both Ricardo and Karne had been eyeing her and both stared as she slowly bowed her head and closed her eyes.

"Kay?" Karne asked, concern rising when Kay did not respond immediately. "Kay!"

"We have to focus on the tank." Kay said in a monotone. "They will unearth it and try to activate it. Even if their Magos is suddenly doing something else, the lesser priests and servitors will continue doing what they were told. They want the glory of finding operable tech and to hell with the risks to everyone around them."

"What just happened?" Ricardo demanded.

"The Mechanicus tore your MindShackle out." Kay said quietly. Lornan and Mace both froze as Ricardo did. "It didn't kill her, but she will wish it _had_."

"And you know this… how?" Ricardo was trying very hard not to get angry. Angry with already furious Sisters of Battle in the same ship as him might not be such a good idea.

"Do you really think I am going to tell you everything?" Kay asked, her tone suddenly tired. Sad and tired. "You have neither the need nor the right to know most of what I do."

"Why won't they kill her?" Ricardo asked, moderating his tone. Kay glanced at him and he shook his head. "You have already proved you can hash any of my recorders. I haven't had time to set up anything else in here. There are no bugs or recorders active, my pilot shut them all off as standard procedure. This is as secure as we are going to get. Why did they take her?"

"I can't tell you that." Kay bowed her head again. "Shoot me if you will, but I can't."

"I can." Karne's soft voice had everyone freezing. Kay's head shot up, disbelief coloring every inch of her face and Karne nodded. "You know we looked over every record our Order had when we were sent after you. It wasn't that hard to figure out when we had every record, Kay." Kay slumped a bit. "May I speak of your pain, Sister?" She asked formally.

"It is _my_ shame, Karne!" Kay protested. "No one else's!"

" _What_ shame?" Karne snapped, her anger flaring again. "You were _violated_! They hurt you! Over and over, they hurt you! And despite all of that, you did not turn from the Emperor's light. You are the _best_ example of endurance in extremity that any of our sisters have ever heard of."

"The Mechanicus." Ricardo reeled a bit as realization struck. "You said they dissected you."

"The last time they caught her, they held her for some time in some kind of odd prison. Xenotech probably." Karne's voice held scorn and hate both. "She is sworn not to speak of it, but the marks on her body were clear. They healed during her time with us, but for a very long time, our healers feared she would not survive the wounds she arrived on our doorstep covered in. She was half mad from delirium and blood loss, but still alive. The Dark Eldar themselves could not have hurt her that badly and left her alive."

"You didn't die the last time they dissected you." Ricardo said weakly. Kay shook her head. " _Emperor!_ " He breathed. He had thought himself beyond horror, but _that_?

"They didn't want her dead." Karne said with a growl of anger towards those who had hurt her sister. "They knew if she died, she would simply come back. So, instead, they hurt her. And then _worse_."

"Karne! Stop!" Kay snapped. "You know I have to kill you if you continue! He doesn't need to know!"

"Yes, stop." Ricardo said with a nod. Karne stared at him and he shook his head. "I can put the rest of it together and since I am postulating, with no recorders active, this will never be known to anyone else. You refused to go back to Mars to be examined and/or serve them." Kay stared at the Inquisitor, eyes hooded. "So,… they pride themselves on logic. If _you_ will not serve them, they will make someone _from_ you who _will_." He shook his head at that heretical thought. "Cloning is forbidden, but such puny things as Imperium wide bans never stopped tech priests before."

"You shouldn't have brought her." Kay was crying softly as she glared at Karne who looked at the floor. "I knew the moment I saw her that this wasn't going to end well."

"A daughter's love is a powerful thing." Karne said quietly. "Who are we to deny her? She _was_ the best qualified. We all argued with her, but she is stubborn."

"Stop!" Ricardo snapped as Kay seemed to swell. If she went berserk in here, no one would survive. "She cannot speak of that. At least, that is what I assume. You swore never to." He asked Kay who nodded. "Okay, do _not_ speak of that. Speak of what the Mechanicus want with Georgia. Not of where she came from, _what_ will they do _now_?"

"They will try to take her to Mars." Kay said with a small nod. "The Mechanicus have any number of problems. Not the least of which is that they are stagnating. They maintain, they repair, they work to hold what power they have. They do not, indeed, _cannot_ innovate. It has been bred and cut out of them. Their Omnissiah knows this."

"How do you know that?" Ricardo wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"I have touched it. While I was a prisoner, they hooked me directly to a FTL link straight to Mars. To _it_." Kay's face spoke volumes. From the look on her face? Nope. He didn't want to know. "As bad as the Elder tech was? That was worse." She shivered a bit. "Just the _memory_ hurts."

"But it is Imperium tech." Ricardo said slowly. "Why would _Imperium_ _t_ _ech_ hurt...you..." He trailed off as Kay looked away. Imperium tech wouldn't. So, whatever the Omnissiah was, it _wasn't_ Imperium tech. "No."

"I can't say." Kay said weakly. "Please?" That was the first time she had said 'please' in quite a while. She was really shaken by this. "I can't _say_!"

"If there is even a _chance_ of such an abomination in the _heart_ of the Terran system, I _have_ to report it." Inquisitor Ricardo had a duty to the Imperium. Such a threat was not a minor problem.

"I did." Kay said softly. "To several different Canonesses as well as other interested parties. They are investigating. Carefully. Please, Inquisitor. If you push this, the Mechanicus will react badly and they are in position to do all kinds of damage to an Imperium that is already reeling from the events at Cadia." She sighed and shrugged. "All you have is my word anyway."

"Frankly?" Ricardo managed to dredge humor up from somewhere. "I would trust your word over any Mechanicus any day. You at least _act_ human much of the time."

"Thanks." Kay manage a weak smirk. "I think."

"Okay, so let's think this through." Ricardo said slowly. "They want to take her to Mars. From how the Magos reacted when she saw Georgia, I assume they know what you will do if you catch them." Kay nodded. He didn't blame her one bit for wanting vengeance. He would too. "So, they will run like hell."

"The leaders will." Kay corrected him grimly. "The others? They likely won't know what is happening. If the Magos orders them to defend the place, they will. They have no free will to question."

Ricardo growled and a flash on a screen nearby caught his attention. It showed several Imperial Guard aircraft making strafing runs on the location in question. Several points blazed with anti-aircraft fire, but the pilots attacking the facility knew what they were doing. Most were flying incredibly low to avoid detection, popping up to fire stand off missiles or other ordnance and then vanish from sight and sensor. One Thunderbolt vanished from his plot, downed or disabled, he couldn't tell. An Avenger popped up from a valley and fired its main cannon, blowing the offending AA station into atoms. They were doing it, destroying the Mechanicus defenses. He just hoped the Chaos forces didn't realize how vulnerable this area would be for a time. If they launched an attack while the defenses were in disarray… He shook his head. High Command had been appraised. They would have done what they could to counter any such.

"Can Georgia do what you do?" Lornan asked and Ricardo looked at Kay as she eyed the agent. "If she can, then she may be able to access the vehicle."

"No." Kay sighed deeply. "She is human. No discernible powers that I or any of the sisters have been able to determine. Admittedly, none of us are anywhere close to the Emperor in skill, but I had specialists check her. There was no sign of anything odd. I hoped she would live out her life as a Sister of Serenity and perish without ever meeting me. My life is not for the faint of heart and she is a good kid."

"The Emperor only knows what the future holds." Ricardo said slowly. "But if we can rescue her, we will."

"She would be the first to say 'The mission comes first', Inquisitor." Karne said sadly. "If we divert to rescue her and the Imperium suffers? She would never forgive any of us."

"My feelings are all screwed up." Kay admitted. "They have been since I saw her in the hangar bay. My duty is clear. That vehicle cannot be allowed to fall into their hands. Even if, by some miracle, it doesn't self destruct, they wouldn't be able to duplicate the tech and would kill who knows how many Imperial citizens trying."

"Uh, boss?" Lisa's voice came from the cockpit. "We got a problem."

"What now?" Ricardo asked sourly. "Status?"

"High Command reports a pair of Chaos Warhound Titans just crossed the lines." The pilot sounded calm, but then again, he had seen her act calm while surrounded by anti-aircraft fire with nowhere to go. That mission hadn't gone so well. "They lost track of them, but last report puts them on a course for the facility."

More than one of the listeners shivered. Titans were massive war machines, designed to dominate the battlefield. Even Warhounds, the smallest of the common classes, mounted incredibly strong shield generators and incredibly heavy weapons. The Elysians would be wheat before a harvester machine even with air support.

"Why the hell would they be going here now?" Ricardo demanded. Kay slumped a bit. "Kay?"

"Because what the Mechanicus just did probably sent up a flare across the Warp." Kay said softly, her face pale. "I cannot sense that myself, but I was told such a thing would attract all kinds of attention. _All_ kinds."

"Titans..." Lornan was just as pale as Kay. "We are gonna need _lots_ of backup." No one disagreed with him.

"Kay." Karne said softly. "I know why you think what you do and I admire you for that. But if..."

" _NO!_ " Kay snapped. "I will not for myself _or_ Georgia! For the _Imperium_ , maybe. _Not_ for myself. That way lies damnation!"

"We don't have any other spare forces and such Titans are next to impossible to hit with orbital artillery." Ricardo said after a moment. "If you can summon backup..."

"She can." Karne said quietly. "But the cost is dear. I will pay, if needed."

"You don't have any idea what you are saying, Karne." Kay seemed half a step from feral. "You can't pay it. I don't know if _I_ can."

"Can you summon backup?" Ricardo asked softly. "If we lose this sector, we will likely lose the planet. If we lose the planet, it may be very hard, if not impossible to hold the system. We would return in numbers, but who knows how long that would take?" Kay seemed to wilt and Ricardo continued. "Can you summon backup?"

"Yes." Kay's voice was a monotone now.

"Can they get here in time with enough force to aid us against Titans?" Ricardo pressed.

"Yes." Again, a monotone.

"Then what is the problem?" Ricardo asked, suddenly concerned.

"The problem, Inquisitor, is that if I do this, my anonymity is gone." Kay said quietly. "The Emperor ordered me to sleep and when I woke, to maintain a low profile until I could determine how to aid the Imperium. He knew I would be tempted to meddle. It is my nature to try to fix things. So, he ordered me not to unless I was sure what I was doing was right. The Adeptes Astartes may or may not react badly to this. After what Horus did… I am afraid of what I could do, Inquisitor. I am _one_ woman. Maybe I am not mortal, but I _am_ fallible."

"You _are_ one woman." Ricardo said softly, but with iron conviction behind that. "But you are the Daughter of the Emperor. And correct me if I am wrong, but… Wouldn't that make Georgia the _Granddaughter of the Emperor_?"

Kay stared at the Inquisitor for a long moment and then she laughed. Said laugh was bit on the hysterical side but then she relaxed.

"He told me what to do, but I never had the guts to try." Kay admitted. "I don't know who will answer my call or how many. I am willing to bet that as soon as I do call, all hell will break loose."

"Call?" Ricardo asked softly.

"It's uh..." Kay shook her head. "It's complicated. I will need to remain here until what I do is done. Karne." This was a command and the veteran sister jerked upright. "Get Georgia. Keep her safe."

"Yes, Ma'am!" The clang of the sister's fist against her chestplate should have been thunderous, but then Kay started to hum something and all thought vanished. Whatever it was, it wasn't a tune Ricardo knew.

The world suddenly turned golden and he was sitting on something as Kay rose into the air to hover, her arms at her sides. The others were there. Karne and her sisters, Mace, Lornan. Even Lisa in her seat. All seemed frozen. Ricardo could see and hear, but not move. Not a pleasant feeling.

 _Father. I failed._

There was something. Ricardo didn't know _what_ happened, but the feel was clear. _Something_ responded to Kay's abject confession. There was a feeling of compassion, of worry, of pride. Was she _really_ …?

 _I tried to do what you wished. I really did._ Kay was crying as she hung in midair. _But everything went wrong._ _The Mechanicus hurt me. They made a copy of me. I stole her from them, but now? They have taken her back and hurt her. They want to hook her into their 'God' and I don't know what to do._

Now, the feeling was rage. Rage that dwarfed anything that Ricardo had ever encountered. He had faced Deamons straight out of the Warp that had felt less angry.

 _What can I do, Father?_ Kay begged. _I am one woman and I make mistakes!_

Now the feeling was chiding her. Gently, but thoroughly. Kay smiled a little sadly and nodded.

 _I know self pity is pointless._ Kay said quietly. _It just hurts so much, Father. I want to make things better and all I can do is watch them get worse._ _What can I do?_

The feeling focused. It seemed to be talking to her, but not quite. Kay was nodding and then she gasped.

 _Really?_ **They** _would-_ She broke off as feeling that felt remarkably like a rebuke came. She seemed to stiffen in midair. _Yes sir._ She said contritely. _No, I will not interrupt again, Sir._ _I will try not to disappoint you._ She was crying again.

Anywhere else, such a massive change in the confident woman would have been hilarious. Not here Not now. The feeling was pride again as _something_ focused on Ricardo. He felt power the likes of which he had never imagined sweep through him. He didn't know what it was doing, but it felt… curious? Not hostile for sure.

 _Yes._ When Ricardo looked up, Kay was watching him. _He is a good man._ She shook her head. _No, I won't trust him. I am not that stupid. Yes. I will. I love you too, Father._

Ricardo landed on a hard surface to see Kay land right beside him. He stared around and they stood on a flat white plain. No… A flat white structure that seemed to extend into a void. It wasn't anything human made. It looked Elder and ancient.

"This is a portion of the Webway that the Eldar do not use now." Kay said before Ricardo could summon the energy to ask. "And no, do _not_ speak of what just happened. To _anyone._ " Her glare could have cut steel. "I don't know why he did that. Let you see that. Much of what he does make no sense to mere mortals." She scoffed. "Even some _immortals_. Speaking of..."

"Kay!" A terrified voice sounded and Ricardo recoiled as an Eldar appeared out of nowhere. The female xenos wore no armor and carried no weapons. She was running towards Kay, her face frightened. "I cannot stop it!"

"I can." Kay sad softly. "Take my hands, Liriel."

"Who is this?" Liriel demanded, but then gasped and relaxed as Kay took her hands and power flared across both of them. She was babbling. "By the ancestors, I am sorry. I didn't know who she was when they put my stone on her! I tried not to hurt her, but prolonged contact _will_ hurt her."

"It is all right, Liriel. I can hold the energy at bay for a day or so. By then, this will be settled, one way or another." Kay said with a sigh. "Introductions are in order. This is Ricardo Illusmar of the Ordo Hereticus." She nodded to the stunned Inquisitor. "Inquisitor, may I present singer Liriel, formerly of Craftworld Ulthwé?"

"An _Inquisitor?_ " The Eldar recoiled, her face fearful again.

"He knows much of what has happened and has figured out more." Kay sighed deeply. "Father vetted him and says he can be trusted as long as we do not betray the Imperium."

"As if you _could_ , you silly Mon-Keigh." The Eldar's insult was mocking? She knew Kay and Kay knew her. Very well indeed it seemed. She bowed to Ricardo. "I would say 'Well met' Inquisitor, but we have serious problems."

"And Father has authorized me to summon a serious _solution_." The Eldar's eyes went huge at Kay's quiet words. "Stay behind me."

"Oh _yes_!" Liriel darted behind Kay as Kay raised her head, put a hand to her mouth and… howled? Ricardo stared at Kay as she did it again and again.

"Tell me she is not doing what I _think_ she is." Ricardo moved to stand behind Kay as well. "They _do not like_ the Inquisition."

"Who _does_?" Liriel said with a grunt as several circles of golden energy appeared nearby. Forms appeared in each. _Six of them_. One hulking form strode forward, his face angry.

" _Who **dares**_ summon Logan Grimnar?"

The High Wolf of the Space Wolves Chapter of the Imperium Space Marines was _not_ happy.


	12. Chapter 12

**Feral loyalty**

"I summoned you, Lord of the Space Wolves."

The ancient high lord of the Wolves of Fenris' eyes narrowed as Kay's armor shifted from sisterhood colors to _golden_. She spoke again.

"This is all in the mind and mere moments will pass in the real world. There are no threats here. Only opportunities for glory."

"You..." He blew out a deep breath. "Who the hell are you, woman?"

"I have a war that needs warriors, Logan Grimnar." Kay said quietly. "You may call me Kay."

"I don't deal with women!" Logan Grimnar snapped, looking at Ricardo who fought hard not to quail. This was a being who had killed Inquisitors in large numbers and made no bones about his feelings about doing it again. He _hated_ the Inquisition and his warriors mirrored him.

"You will deal with me." Kay didn't move. Didn't flinch at all as the Great Wolf scoffed at her. He turned back to the golden circles, but she spoke again. "Or have you no honor?"

"You _dare_ question _my_ honor, you who stand with a xenos and a man who stinks of the Inquisition?" Grimnar snapped, spinning back to face her, eyes flashing.

"If you walk away without at least hearing me out, then _yes_." Kay snapped right back, showing no fear at all as the huge Space Marine in even larger armor glared at her.

The other forms resolved into other space marines, also in Space Wolves heraldry. None wore helmets, but none showed any expression either. All held weapons ready. Grimnar, for his part, was eyeing her. Kay did not move, did not react at all as his massive double bitted ax swished nearby. It looked larger than Ricardo himself and if Ricardo wasn't mistaken, it was the Axe Morkai, a weapon that had claimed the lives of dozens of Inquisitors as well as uncounted numbers of enemies of the Imperium. This being had led one of the most savage of the Space Marine chapters for hundreds of years. Not someone to take lightly. Ever.

"You have courage." Grimnar finally said. "And the call..." He stared around, shaking his head. "The legends speak of the call. But our sagas say _Russ_ will call. Not a _woman_ with an _Inquisitor_ in tow." The scorn in his voice would have cut steel.

"Russ or one other." Kay was not arguing. She was stating fact. Grimnar barked a laugh.

"Okay, you have some _serious_ stones, woman." Grimnar chuckled. "But you are not the Emperor."

"No." Kay agreed. "But he told me to call you."

"Right." Grimnar spat that out and his ax swept it only to clang as Kay _caught the blade in her fingers! She was holding both sides with her armored fingers!_ Ricardo was hardly the only one to gawk as Kay stood there, her fingers clenched on the massive ax, holding the whining power field away from herself by sheer strength. Grimnar stared at her, not even bothering to try and recover from his swing, he was that shocked.

"I don't blame you for doubting." Kay sounded sad, as if holding such a weapon in such a way bare inches from her armored skin was nothing. "It has been a very long time since I fought beside the Sons of Russ. Tell me, is Ulrik the Red still kicking around?"

"Wait. Kay?" A startled voice spoke up from behind Grimnar and Ricardo's eyes were pulled to a black armored Space Wolf who strode forward, his Crozius Arcanum- the badge of rank of Space Marine chaplains, hanging limp in his hand. Whereas a normal Space Marine chaplain would have a skull mask on his armor, this one had a wolf skull instead. A Wolf Priest and not just _any_ Wolf Priest! " _KAY?_ " He demanded.

"Hello, young Ulrik." Kay said with a small sad smile. "Or I guess I shouldn't call you 'young' anymore, should I? It has been a very long time."

"That it has, Lady. Lower your ax, Grimnar." Ulrik the Slayer said with a growl worthy of one of the Wolves that made his home planet of Fenris such a deathtrap. " _Now!_ " That was _not_ a suggestion. At that command, everyone in the area but Kay stared at the bone white mask. Ulrik hefted his mace and it glowed in readiness. "If you don't lower your ax _right now_ , if _she_ doesn't kill you, _I will_! And if _I_ fail? _Bjorn_ will rip you apart. Slowly."

"Ulrik, what?" Grimnar retreated a step. Kay released his ax and he did not resume his attack. "Who _are_ you?" He demanded of Kay.

"Who _else_ could call us that way?" Ulrik stepped right up to Kay and then the utterly unthinkable happened. He _knelt_. Ricardo's eyes bulged almost to fall out of his head as the double eagle that crowned the head of the Slayer's mace went to the ground and the black armored Space Marine knelt in front of Kay who growled at him as he bowed his helmeted head to her.

" _Rise!_ " Kay's snarl echoed Ulrik's. He ignored her. "Damn you, _rise!_ You Wolves kneel to _no one_ except your Primarch and my _father_. _NO ONE!_ " She grabbed him by the arm and he was on his feet, obviously shocked by her strength to lift him like that. All of the Space Wolves were staring at her as were Ricardo and Liriel.

"Your..." For the first time in what was probably centuries, Logan Grimnar was struck absolutely speechless.

"The proper code is 'Frejya', High Lord of the Sixth Legion." Kay was quiet and calm again. "As I said, my name is Kay. Do you remember the countersign?"

"Uh..." Grimnar looked at Ulrik who shook his head.

"None of us will remember such, Lady Kay." Ulrik admitted. "I was but a Grey Hunter at the time, myself. That was before Armageddon."

"If anyone will, Bjorn will remember." Another Wolf spoke up from behind them, his eyes on Kay. "If you remember her, he will."

"We _all_ remember her, but few knew her name," Ulrik said sternly. "May I, Lady Kay?" He inclined his helmet to her and she nodded. "Brothers? May I present Lady Kay, also known as 'The Iron Dragoness'."

At that, every Space Wolf stiffened. Grimnar himself stared at Kay as if seeing her for the first time.

"You." Grimnar seemed to hardly be breathing. " _You_ led the breakout at Krookfall Ridge?"

"I did." Kay bowed her head. "So many lost in that horrible place, but victory was won." That name meant nothing to Ricardo, but every Space Wolf seemed to be hanging on her every word. "Alicia ordered me on when I reported hearing firing, that your brothers still fought. She told me that you were heretics in all but name. That you were mutants. Evil, abased creatures. But you fought the Emperor's foes. Trapped and alone, you Wolves fought without hope. Without a chance, you stood and held the hordes of Orks off that pass for _three_ _weeks_." She shook her head. "I could not simply pass by. I heard your brothers singing as they fought and died." Was she _crying?_ She was. A tear fell.

"The damn Orks screwed up all the vox. We knew we had to hold them off, so we did. We were lost when the mountain came down, blocking the pass." Ulrik said softly. "Even our rage was not enough. Half a dozen of us were still standing at the end, all wounded. We were out of ammunition. The last wave we beat hand to hand, but far more were coming and their artillery just wouldn't stop. Our way was blocked and we were doomed. A glorious death indeed, but still a death. Then we heard it. We thought it was Ork music at first, but none _them_ can carry a tune." Was he _joking_? One of the other Wolves started to hum a tune and Ulrik nodded. "That is the tune. The March of Cambreadth. We remember."

"The Iron Dragoness blew a hole in the avalanche that had blocked the way out and her tank held off the Orks long enough for our brothers to withdraw with their dead and wounded." Grimnar said slowly. "But… The Iron Dragoness… Her tank was destroyed by an Ork dreadnought. Even then, she stymied them, the wreckage blocked the pass and when the ammunition blew, the avalanche it caused blocked it beyond clearing. She perished with her tank."

"Do not-" Ulrik started, but paused when Kay laid a hand on his power armored arm. "Lady?"

"You and your pack pulled what was left of me out of the wreckage of my Baneblade, Ulrik." Kay said quietly. "You witnessed what happened after. I took your oath that day. I release you from it now."

"Only I still breathe who saw the events." Ulrik said formally. "Are you certain, Lady?"

"No." Kay admitted. "I am fallible. I make mistakes." She patted his arm. "Saving you and your brothers that day was _not_ a mistake no matter how mad Alicia got that I broke her new toy." Her grin was impish and Ulrik chuckled as well.

"She perished." Ulrik said quietly. "My brother Fraj heard a voice screaming from the tank as it burned. None of us spoke a word, we simply turned and went back despite the danger. Some held off the xenos who tried to get past the burning tank with their bare hands or whatever weapons we had left. The rest of us tore the tank apart to get the crew out. We found _one mortally wounded being_ inside. A female human. We could not find any others. We grabbed her and retreated just before the tank exploded, bringing the whole mountain down on the remaining xenos. We would not leave our savior's corpse for the foul xenos."

"Of course not." Grimnar was back on firm ground it seemed. "But if you _died_..."

"Let Ulrik finish." Kay's words were not a command, not quite. Grimnar looked at her and nodded to the skull headed Wolf.

"There was nothing we could do." Ulrik was quiet, reflective. Lost in the memory? "None of us were healers and her body was broken probably beyond _any_ healing Imperium tech could manage. The vox was still jammed, so we had no way to call for help. We did what we could. We carried her towards our rendezvous and hoped, but she breathed her last before we made it there. We did not know what rites to give her, so we were going to carry her to the Wolf Lord, let him see her and judge if she needed a grave or a pyre." Ulrik paused as if gathering himself. "And then, her body vanished in a haze of golden light. A moment later, Kay stepped out of another golden light, whole as you see her now."

"Heresy!" Grimnar began, only to recoil as Ulrik hit him. The Wolf Priest's Crozius was not powered, so it simply made a clang, but it sure got the Great Wolf's attention.

" _No._ " Ulrik actually had a smile in his voice. " _Not_ heresy. _Far_ from it. Kay..." He bowed his head.

"If you kneel to me again, I _will_ hit you." Kay warned but her voice held humor and more than one of the grim warriors chuckled with Ulrik. "I do not want to do this, Ulrik, but I do not have a choice. As I said, I am one woman, I cannot fight a war alone. I must maintain my balance. I must not fall."

"You will _not_ fall. We swore it then and _I_ swear it now! Your brothers stand with you." Rock would have shied away from the Space Wolf's voice. All of the other Wolves were staring at him in shock. "May I introduce you _properly_ to the Wolf Lord?"

"Yes." Kay said as Grimnar stared from Ulrik to her and back.

"Great Wolf of Fenris, High Lord Logan Grimnar, may I present the human woman known to us as 'The Iron Dragoness', Kay, First Born and only known True Born Daughter of the Emperor of Mankind." Ulrik said softly.

After the Wolf Priest had spoken, there was utter silence in the void.

"I..." Grimnar slowly shook his head. "I do not understand." He said finally.

"It is complicated." Kay started, only to pause as Ulrik laid a hand on _her_ arm. "Ulrik?"

"No, it is not." Ulrik said sternly. "He made us. He made you. For the exact same reason. To defend the Imperium." Kay glared at him but her heart wasn't in it. The old Wolf Priest chuckled again. "Tell me I lie."

"And here I was kind of hoping your sense of humor had _improved_ over the centuries." Kay said sourly, but she was grinning as the Space Wolves all smiled.

"Fat chance of _that_." Grimnar said with a grunt. "And you are revealing yourself to us, now, because…?" He trailed off, expecting her to fill in the gap.

"Because I have a problem that needs a fairly big hammer to fix." Kay said with a sigh. She took a deep breath and started to explain.

"It is like this..."

* * *

Ten minutes later

He had heard stories. He had seen records. He had seen a lot of people angry in his life. It wasn't enough to prepare him.

 _Nothing_ could have _possibly_ prepared Ricardo Illusmar for the rage of the Wolves of Fenris. The _only_ good thing? They were not angry with him.

"They are _dead!_ " Grimnar was cold as ice. That was somehow scarier than him raging and tossing his ax around. "Every last _one_ of those filthy cogs is _dead!_ They _dare_ to violate you? To _profane_ the Emperor's great work?"

"They didn't know who I was." Kay seemed unmoved by his rage, but the sheer ferocity that had awoken in all of the grey armored forms as she had spoken had made both Liriel and Ricardo retreat several steps. "I don't think they would have cared, but they didn't know."

"That doesn't _matter_." Ulrik was a grim statue. "What they did demands blood." All of the other Wolves growled agreement.

"Oh, I totally agree and if I get a shot, I am taking it." Kay retorted. "But right now, the _vehicle_ is what matters. The _last_ time they broke into one, it self destructed and blew out one of their massive matter-antimatter reactors at the base they had taken it to for dismantling. The resulting secondary blast destroyed half a _continent_ on one of their Forge Worlds." More than one of the listeners winced at that. "The loss of life was immense. They think I did it. I have encouraged that belief."

"Make them fear you, wise." Ulrik nodded to her. "What do you want from us then?"

"The Mechanicus have apparently attached Liriel's soul stone to Georgia in the hopes that they can enslave the Eldar to guide them along the Webway to Mars." Kay shook her head. "That is madness. In life, Liriel was a bonesinger, not a wayfinder. We, um, encountered each other a few times."

"The warhost I served tried to kill her several times. We hunted her across the stars for perceived insults." Liriel said weakly. "We didn't know who she was or what until the dark cousins trapped us." The Space Wolves looked at her and she quailed. "We were doomed, all of us. Almost an entire warhost. She saved us from them. Her reward? The moron Kadas _shot you_." She wasn't faking the rage she was showing.

All of the Space Wolves stared at Kay as the human sighed.

"I knew he was going to, Liriel." Kay reassured the other. Then she grinned. "I _did_ sort of _steal_ and _wreck_ his Fire Prism."

"Yeah and he was _very_ unhappy about that." Liriel smirked as Kay chuckled. "You should have heard him curse when his pilot came tumbling out and it flew off without him."

"You _stole_ an Eldar tank?" Grimnar asked, eyes wide.

"Eldar _hell_. She has stolen Mechanicus, Ork, Eldar, Tau, Imperial Guard, Sisters, Arbites _and_ Necron tanks, and those are just the ones I _know_ of." Liriel was grinning wide as Kay made a shush motion. "The only tanks she won't touch are Chaos ones."

"It would be worth my sanity to touch one of those with anything but long range fire. I have also never stolen from Adeptes Astartes." Kay said primly. "I have _some_ sense."

"Could you?" Grimnar asked, brow furrowed in thought. "Steal vehicles from us?"

"Uh, maybe? With Imperial equipment, it is mainly about identifying myself to the machine spirits." Kay admitted. "Since my codes are all valid, the security systems don't activate and the machine spirits consider me an authorized user. So… They don't think I am stealing the vehicles." She paused. "Uh, _I_ consider it stealing although the last Mechanicus tank I 'borrowed' considered it 'liberating'. And yes, some of their vehicles have minds of their own even though they shouldn't."

"This just gets better and better. Don't steal from us, but if you happen across any Dark Angels? Feel free." Kay shook her head, but Grimnar was smiling. "I think I like you, Kay. Ulrik speaks for us all, we _are_ your brothers." He held out a hand to her and she took it, wrist to wrist in a warrior's handclasp.

"You don't know what that means to me, High Wolf Logan Grimnar." Kay said in a husky voice. "Not all of the Astartes will think the same."

"No. Maybe not all of us wolves, but they will shut up around me if they have any sense at all." Grimnar released her hand and shook his head. "So, you have Titans and who knows _what_ else heading for your daughter and a masterwork of the Emperor's. A good fight." He mused. "I hate to miss it but I am a _long_ ways away."

"You can authorize your forces nearby to intervene." Kay said with a nod. "With Warp travel so screwed up after the mess at Cadia, it may take years for more forces to reach Caligari."

"I can and I will." Logan Grimnar promised her. Then he grinned again. "Highfell has been pestering me anyway about joining the fight in Caligari. He hates passing by a good armored rumble." Kay looked at him and Grimnar stretched a little. His smile turned feral. "He took over the Ironwolves when Egin fell at Fenris."

"Oh." Kay's smile matched the Great Wolf's. "I have seen your Ironwolves work. It is impressive." Grimnar stepped back to the golden circle he had appeared in but Ulrik did not move. "Ulrik?" Kay asked.

"We come, sister." The Wolf Priest promised. A hungry growl sounded from the other Space Wolves. "And if, should the worst happen, know that you will never fight alone again. The Wolves of Fenris stand with our sister. You are part of our pack, now and _always_!"

Everything stopped as Kay threw back her head and howled. A long, drawn out cry of blood and fury. Each of the Space Wolves mirrored her, their howls joining with hers until Ulrik stepped back into the golden light and all of the gray armored forms vanished.

"Is it bad that even _dead_ , I really need the facilities right now?" Liriel asked weakly as her form shimmered a bit.

"Not really." Kay admitted. "They are scary, no question."

"They thought it was _Russ_ calling them." Ricardo said softly. Kay nodded. "And...?"

"No comment." Kay said sternly. "As in, you don't say _anything_ to _anyone_ about what just happened. _Ever_. This never happened and we were never here."

"Story of my life."


	13. Chapter 13

**Conflicts of Interest  
**

Ricardo came back to himself to see Kay's eyes on him. Nothing seemed to have changed. But everything had. She took a deep breath and he nodded to her as he turned to scrutinize the readouts beside him.

"Were you going to do something?" Lornan asked Kay.

"She did." Ricardo's curt reply cut off anything anyone else was going to say. "We have backup coming."

"Boss?" Lornan asked slowly, his eyes narrow.

"You do _not_ want to know." Ricardo said flatly. "Hell, _I_ do not want to know." He looked at Kay. "Any idea how long?"

"Within the hour." Kay said with a small frown. "They were close and they don't screw around."

"No, they don't." Ricardo allowed. He was staring at the plot and it wasn't making any sense to him. "There are still Mechanicus defenses up. Why are the fighters _withdrawing_?"

At his words, everyone in the cargo compartment tensed. Everyone was looking at the plot. Everyone but Kay who was staring off into the distance, her face oddly pensive. Indeed, the Thunderbolts and Avengers were flying away from the battle that had been unfolding as planned. The Elysian transports were on profile, but if the air defenses were still up when they got there? This would be a _very_ short fight.

"Get on the vox, Sergeant!" Ricardo snapped. "Get those fighters back into action!"

"They report they have been ordered back to base." Lisa's voice was confused. "Their orders check out, sir."

"Who the hell countermanded my orders?" Ricardo felt anger rise. "Who the hell… _could…_?" He stiffened as his com lit up. _His_ _Inquisition secure com_. "Oh no."

He looked at Kay whose face was a mask. Karne held out a helmet to her and she slid it on without a word. Suddenly, she was just another Sister of Battle, checking her weapon before combat started. He nodded slowly as he keyed his com. Better she not be visible for the moment if what he feared was coming.

"Inquisitor Illusmar." Ricardo fought hard and managed not to sigh as the face of his immediate superior showed up on the screen. "You have been busy."

"Lord Inquisitor Gornal." Ricardo said slowly. "I wasn't aware you were in system."

At that name, both Mace and Lornan stiffened. Both knew Ricardo's history with his superior. It wasn't a pleasant history. As far as Ricardo was concerned, Gornal was the _worst_ kind of Inquisitor. A _political_ one. He was very good at kissing up to superiors and taking credit for things done by subordinates. As for the rest of his abilities? He _might_ be able to find Chaos if a Traitor Titan stepped on him. Other than that? Not a _chance_. Ricardo had suspicions about worse things, but he had been very careful not to speak his suspicions anywhere that anyone could hear. The Lord Inquisitor was both powerful and vindictive when crossed. It didn't help that he had the common sense of a drunk Ogryn at times.

"I wasn't." Gornal said with a frown. "I received a disturbing report that one of my subordinates was assaulting an ally's defenses her and undermining an entire war front. So, as a dutiful servant of the Imperium, I dropped everything and came running."

Fat chance of that. As Ricardo was well aware, the man was too fat to run. He had a positive nose for ferreting out secrets though, usually ones that earned him power and allies. Ricardo wasn't sure the last time Gornal was in the field, actually working. He doubted it was in the last decade. He had managed to keep secrets from the Lord Inquisitor, but it had cost him dearly on occasion.

"Oh?" Ricardo asked. "And did your agents tell you _why_?"

There was only one group who could have possibly pulled this scum in. The Mechanicus. But why? And when? At last report, Gornal had been on the other side of the Caligari sector. That was one reason Ricardo had wanted to move fast and had enlisted the Elysians.

"They were rather vague." Gormal said with a wider frown. "Would you mind enlightening me as to why you have attacked an Adeptus Mechanicus facility and caused a great deal of damage to said facility, using Imperial assets no less?"

"Yes, I would mind." Ricardo said flatly. "This channel is not secure."

"Do not play games with me, boy!" Gornal seemed to swell. "I came all the way across this blasted sector to keep you from making a serious mistake. What the hell are you doing?"

"Your 'friends' in the Mechanicus..." A shot in the dark, but confirmed when Gornal flinched. "...kidnapped a member of my retinue." Ricardo said with a growl. "I want her back."

"So you called in _orbital strikes_ on the surrounding area?" Gornal was shaking his head. "Have you _ever_ heard the word 'diplomacy', boy?"

"Yes." Ricardo kept his voice mild through sheer force of will. "Have _you_ ever heard the word 'traitor', Lord Inquisitor?"

Mace and Lorna both winced at that. Ricardo had been called on the carpet by Gornal several times for his methods. The results had always outstripped the collateral damage, but Gornal had been less than pleased with some of Ricardo's escapades. After all, what apparently mattered to him was his power and prestige, not if the job got done. Ricardo couldn't have cared less about appearances or politics. He had sworn an oath to defend the Imperium, not to kiss some fat fool's ass.

"You should not try to play such games with your betters." The older Inquisitor seemed almost jolly. Something that bothered Ricardo on a number of levels. "Luckily, I am here to pull your ass out of the fire. You owe me, Illusmar."

"I do?" Ricardo asked softly. "For what, pray tell?"

"You very nearly damaged a massive prize." Gornal said with a smirk. "One that I will claim for the Inquisition. My allies in the Mechanicus have found a marvel. A relic that predates the Horus Heresy."

"Oh?" Ricardo put a look of worry on his face. "So… they didn't tell you about the self destruct?"

"Self destruct?" Gornal asked, face blank.

"Never mind." Ricardo shrugged. "You just answered my question." He turned to the intercom. "Pilot, order the 743rd to get clear as fast as they can and get us the hell out of here. I don't know how big it will be, but I bet it won't be small." Karne looked as if she was about to speak, but Kay laid a hand on her arm and she shut her mouth with a click. He turned back to the screen where Gornal was goggling at him. "Enjoy your prize, Lord Inquisitor. I am sure that such a superior mind as yours will be able to succeed when an entire Forge World failed. Then I wish you luck holding off the _Chaos Titans_ that your 'friends' apparently summoned with their silliness."

His grin was downright vicious as he cut the com. Karne opened her mouth again, face angry, but Ricardo held up his right hand with his fingers splayed out. He clenched one finger, two, three… Just as he clenched his last finger into a fist, his com chimed again. He smiled at Karne whose face was a study. The com chimed again and he ignored it.

"Boss." Lornan was somewhere between amusement and horror. "None of us like him, but…"

"That man is an bootlicker, Lornan." Ricardo said with a sigh. "I know that in any group larger than three, humans are always going to have politics, but geez. The scum does rise to the top, doesn't it?"

"Always that way." Kay's voice was quiet, sad.

"The only good news is that he values his skin." Ricardo said with a small frown as his com stopped chiming. Then it started again. "I may be able to get you to the tank, I may not."

"Get us on the ground near it and I can reach it." Kay had no arrogance in her voice, just a confidence that bordered it. "How do you want to play this?"

"Angry sisters." Ricardo smiled at Karne whose sudden look of comprehension was priceless. "You _are_ sworn to protect Georgia after all. I promised her safety. I failed, so you _can_ take a complaint to the Lord Inquisitor. I am betting he will be in the lab with his 'friends'. _And_ Georgia." His com stopped chiming.

"Bets on him being there before the attacks started?" Lornan asked. Ricardo looked at him and the agent winced. "Sorry, sir."

"I wouldn't take that bet." Ricardo said softly. "The man is scum, but unfortunately, he is not a fool. He wouldn't be here at all if they were not about to lose everything. He will know more than he should, but there is simply no way he will know everything." He nodded to Kay who nodded back.

"This has to be a trap for you." Karne said to Kay who shrugged. "They held you before."

"Yeah, they did." Kay admitted. She probably would have spoken again, but Ricardo's com chimed, this time with a priority sequence. Any Inquisitor was sworn to answer that no matter the situation. Inquisitors had died responding to such calls in bad places.

"Yes?" Ricardo asked as his screen came alive. Gornal's face was flushed. Anger or embarrassment or both? "Lord Inquisitor?"

"You are an ass!" The higher ranked inquisitor said sourly. "You know very well I need that regiment to defend the prize and you cut their coms so they won't talk to _me_."

"Did I?" Ricardo looked at Lornan who smirked. The man was damned good at anticipating needs. "I can neither confirm nor deny that. These transmissions are as secure as the Inquisition can make them, but that doesn't make them totally secure as you very well know. I am sure your 'friends' in the Mechanicus are listening in at this very moment." Was that fear that flickered across Gornal's face?

"What do you want?" Gornal demanded. "The tank is mine."

"I want my agent back before the Sororitas who brought her to me take my head off." Ricardo said with a grunt. Gornal stared at him and Ricardo shrugged. "A non-militant sister named Georgia was kidnapped by the Magos who leads the Mechanicus on planet when I went to talk to her." He couldn't resist digging the knife in deeper. "I went to _talk_ to them and they responded by kidnapping my agent. I know I overstepped. I have _no_ right to respond in such case, because your 'friends' would _never_ act against the Inquisition _or_ the Imperium..." Butter might not have melted in Ricardo's mouth as he laid it on as thick as he could. "But they _did_ take my agent without even a 'by your leave'. They refused to talk to me or anyone, so I had to assume that they were acting against the Inquisition. I acted accordingly."

Gornal shook his head. "And I should take your word for that?"

"You _better_ take _mine!_ " Karne slammed upright in the bay and stalked forward until the video pickup could see her. Gornal's face went pasty white as he saw the angry sister. "If any harm has befallen our sister, I will take it out of _his_ hide and then _yours_. Do I make myself _clear_ , Lord Inquisitor?"

"Who are you?" The Lord Inquisitor demanded. Karne growled at him and he moderated a little. Even _he_ wasn't so stupid as to needlessly antagonize a Sororitas. "I do not recognize your Order."

"We are of the Order of the Lost Rosetta." Karne said with a glower. "I am Veteran Sister Karne and I was sent by my Canoness with a team to investigate rumors of someone impersonating one of ours in this sector."

"Who the hell would _dare_?" _That_ at least sounded honest, a first from Gornal in Ricardo's experience.

"It is not impersonation." Karne shrugged. "We found a sister who has been lost to us for years. She was ministering here and we are trying to convince her to come home with us. At least, we were _trying_ to do so when our assigned Sister Hospitallar chose to serve Inquisitor Illusmar." Gornal stared at her, eyes flat and she continued. "Needless to say, we were displeased with her choice, but it was _her_ choice, not _his_. Then the Mechanicus took her. Whatever her choice, _they_ will _not_ keep our sister." Steel might have warped under her tone.

"That is not what I was was told." Gornal started, only to break off as Karne seemed to swell.

"Are you calling me a liar?" Karne asked, her tone soft. Her hand was on the hilt of her sword.

"That is not what he said." Ricardo said quickly, only to break off himself as Karne leveled her glare on _him_. She had a very good glare. Ricardo stuck to his guns. "Veteran Sister Karne, he said that was not what he was _told_. He did not question _you_." He looked at the screen when Gornal seemed at a loss for words. "Please tell me you were not calling her a liar. I am _here_ with her and you are _not_."

"Still antagonizing the Sororitas, eh, Illusmar?" Gornal snickered. "I was told they recovered a _Mechanicus_ agent. So what we have here is a failure to communicate."

"They will not keep the Hospitallar." Karne said flatly. "An unprovoked attack on a non-militant sister will have every militant Sororitas in this _sector_ up in arms. You know that as well as I do. You _know_ what we will do."

Such would involve _lots_ of fire. Innocence meant little to Sisters of Battle on a crusade for vengeance. Collateral damage? Less. Oh, there were stories in abundance and few of them did the truth of Sororitas wrath justice. The Inquisition knew the true facts and knew enough to be very afraid.

"No one wants that." Gornal agreed quickly, face still a bit pale.

"The cogs don't seem to care." Karne said with a growl. "They ignored our coms. They took our sister and we can only assume for nefarious purposes. We will have her back. One way or another. If she is harmed, I will see the debt the cogs owe us washed away in blood."

"I will personally see to the status of your sister." Gornal promised. Karne did not react. "The prize that they uncovered is a relic of the Emperor's own manufacture, Veteran Sister Karne. We must preserve it."

"I only have your word and theirs for that." Karne said flatly. "Their word is meaningless and you have already been deceived by them. Why should I put any of my sisters in harm's way for this?"

"Because if we can duplicate the vehicle, the Imperium itself may survive what is coming." Gornal said fervently. "You know how bad things are right now. The darkness is swamping us all."

"The Emperor's light is our torch and we will see it through to the other side of the wall of madness." Karne blew out a deep breath. "My orders allow little leeway. I need to see the Hospitallar and see that she is unharmed. If she has _chosen_ to…" She paused and shook her head. "...do this silliness with cogs of her own free will, then that is a matter for her Canoness. If she has _not_ … If they have _tampered_ with her..." She drew a finger across her throat armor.

"Illusmar..." Gornal said sternly. "I am on course to land at the facility. You will land there as well."

"So, I fly in all dumb and happy and let them blow us out of the sky?" Illusmar scoffed. "No, thank you, _sir_." The honorific was distinctly disrespectful.

"They won't." Gornal said savagely. "If they do..."

"If they _do_..." Karne cut him off. "My full report is already sealed and in transit. If I do not stop it, it goes out to the nearest convent." Gornal paled again. "Kill us and hell lands on you and _them_." She snapped. "Feel free to order such. You won't live long after."

"I am not stupid, Sister Karne." Gornal said with a glower of his own. "I am trying to save the Imperium."

"That remains to be seen." Karne stumped back to her seat and sat, drawing her bolt pistol and checking it.

"You always wind up in cesspits, don't you, boy?" Gorna asked Ricardo. "You will be cleared through their defenses. Their _remaining_ defenses." He corrected himself grimly. "I need the 743rd to land and secure the vehicle and I am trying to find other forces to repel the Chaos forces."

"There are not any free." Illusmar said soberly. "I looked."

"I have two carriers on standby in high orbit." Gornal continued as if he hadn't heard Ricardo. "Their fighter and bomber wings will help."

"Against _Titans_?" Ricardo didn't even bother trying to hide the scorn in his voice.

"There are Astartes ships moving towards the planet, but none are answering our hails." The Lord Inquisitor continued, ignoring Ricardo's insolence for now. There would be a reckoning later. _If_ they survived. Gornal shook his head. "Never mind. They are the Dogs of Fenris. We cannot trust them to do anything but howl."

Ricardo kept his face blank at that. Indeed, the Space Wolves moved _fast_. Anyone dumb enough to shoot at _them_ would get what they deserved.

"Let me sure I get this recorded." Ricardo said slowly. "You are _ordering_ me to land at a facility where the beings who stole my agent are currently holed up. People who I know are hostile to me and mine."

"The Mechanicus are _allies_ , boy." Gornal snapped. " _Allies_. As in _not enemies_. You will pay for firing on them first."

"Maybe." Ricardo mused. "They did take my agent and I will have her back."

"Gah!" Gornal snapped. "I will see you on the ground."

The com clicked off and Ricardo took a deep breath as everyone looked at him. He shook his head. There was only one way to go.

Forward.

* * *

Half an hour later

The pad was deserted except for an Arvus lighter. A quick glance at it showed a servitor pilot and no one else. Ricardo stepped off his shuttle fully aware of how exposed he was. He had his hands on his pistols. Mace hefted his shield and Lornan his lasgun. Lisa followed, her own lasgun immaculate as always.

The Sisters tramped off the ship in formation and all but Karne had helmets on now. It was impossible to tell which one was Kay, which was likely the point. They had weapons up and ready.

It did them no good.

The only warning was a familiar giggle before green bars of energy swept across the tarmac. One hit Ricardo and he felt every muscle suddenly seize. As he collapsed, he heard Mace fall with a clatter and saw Lisa dive for cover. There wasn't any.

Then the sisters opened fire. Bolters, the flamer and the meltagun poured out a devastating barrage at targets that Ricardo could not see. More green bolts flew and a scream heralded a drop in the fire.

"What the hell are you _doing_?" Ricardo managed to grate out past whatever had frozen every one of his voluntary muscles. Another green beam hit him and he was frozen again.

"Saving the Imperium." Gornal stepped into view, an oddly shaped pistol in one hand and an oddly shaped sword in the other as more green beams sliced. Bolts and other things clattered off a purple field around him as he smirked. "These brave sisters' sacrifice will be remembered."

Ricardo saw a blur as Karne charged forward. Gornal's odd pistol belched energy, but she dodged the weird looking beam.

"You know I cannot let you do that, my dear." Gornal said quietly as Karne hacked at him, her power blade bouncing off the odd shield and then being parried by his sword. He took careful aim and fired. Karne had no chance to dodge and fell without a sound. "Your message was never sent. Was it, Doctor?"

"Oooo..." Somehow Ricardo was _not_ surprised when _Mary_ ran out to kneel by the fallen Sororitas. "Pretty plaything! Mine!" She declared as she touched the still woman's cheek. "Not dead! I can make her better!"

"None are dead. Yet. We are on short time." Gornal said sternly. "And _you_ boy. You may be a dupe, but you were a useful one. Troopers! Six Sororitas left the shuttle, but there are only _five_ Sororitas down. The abomination is _here_. Find it!" Clattering sounded all around as heavily armed Skitarii unfolded from their hiding places. Sweeping the area. Seeking Kay.

Darkness claimed Ricardo.


	14. Chapter 14

**Traps**

Ricardo was dreaming.

He had to be dreaming as he watched without interest as his team were stripped of their equipment and dumped in a cell. Worry peculated as Mary puttered around each of the team members, her fingers caressing their unconscious bodies. But she didn't drug anyone that he could see and that was good. If she did, he would have to deal with that later. Probably in ways he would prefer not to.

His armor was gone when he blinked. His weapons likewise and he couldn't access any of his implants, but that didn't bother him. Was he drugged? Probably. Had Mary done it? If so, he would have serious problems in the near future, but for now? He would deal with what came.

He was lying on something hard as Karne and the other sisters were dragged into another cell and dropped without ceremony. They all seemed to be breathing, but they too had been stripped of their weapons and armor. A servo skull in Mechanicus colors was touching each on the head and neck, doing something nefarious probably. Indeed, one was no longer breathing. To die in such a way? When the sisters heard about _this..._ Oh, who was he kidding. _If_ they heard about this.

"Damn it!" Gornal's voice preceded the Lord Inquisitor into view, The fat man's face was flushed with anger as he bent over Ricardo. "Where is it?"

Ricardo ignored him to focus on Mary who was eyeing the unconscious Sororitas with undisguised lust. His cheek stung and he ignored that too.

"Damn you! I know you can talk. We didn't take that away from you! Answer me!" Gornal said savagely. "You did as you were supposed to! You brought it here." Ricardo looked at him and the older Inquisitor recoiled at whatever was in Ricardo's eyes. "I have worked too hard to let some stupid kid screw it all up now."

"You…? Have worked…?" Ricardo did not recognize his voice. Were his implants offline? Probably. The Lord Inquisitor had all the clearances to deny Ricardo any of his usual advantages. All Ricardo had was his mind and his sneaky, twisty paranoid nature. Would it be enough? Who knew. "You set this up." Not a question.

"Did you really think it was _chance_ that put you at that medical facility?" Gornal snapped. "As soon as they sent the DNA records to the Conclave, it flagged to my attention. I knew you would fall for a sob story and here you are. Where is the abomination?"

"Where is my _agent_?" Ricardo retorted, not giving an inch. Pain lanced through him as blue-green fire danced from Gornal's fingers to Ricardo's arm.

"I am the one asking questions." Gornal snapped. "The Mechanicus want the abomination. I want the tank and the data it contains for making more like it. We worked out an exchange. You will give the abomination to me so I can give it to them." He was not expecting Ricardo to laugh. "What?" He demanded, fire danging across his fingers again.

"Still an idiot." Ricardo kept laughing even as Gornal shocked him again. "You touch that thing and it will go 'boom'! They know that. So you give them what they want and they laugh as they take what they want and leave. Typical. Pity you won't be sitting in it when it self destructs. You will delegate that just like you delegate everything to save your cowardly skin."

The pain increased to the point it threatened to overwhelm his control and he fought hard to keep from screaming. He would not give Gornal the satisfaction!

"You have no idea what I have had to do to keep this sector from falling completely apart, you arrogant whelp!" Gornal said after a moment.

"Yeah." Ricardo smiled even as he felt fluid seeping through his mouth. He had bitten his tongue. "It is such a burden kissing so many asses."

He saw Gornal's face flush and then the man's hand filled his vision, blue-green psyker fire throwing him into darkness.

"...and we need answers!" Gornal was very angry when Ricardo regained consciousness. "Do what you must, Doctor. But we need him lucid!"

"Oooo." Mary leaned into Ricardo's view, her face leering. She held up a shining instrument of her craft as if to kiss it. "Does it hurt?" She asked, fake sympathy oozing.

"How long?" Ricardo asked Mary who looked at him oddly. "Since you left the ship, that is?"

"If you are waiting for her to die, you will be waiting some time." Gornal said with a snort. "That poison trap was infantile." Mary grinned, but the grin faltered as _Ricardo_ smiled.

"Yes." Ricardo said with a soft chuckle as he saw a chrono readout nearby. He had been unconscious for an hour and twenty minutes. Things would be moving fast by now. "The _poison trap_ was. Mary, you are a bad girl and bad girls get _punished_."

Mary recoiled and Gornal opened his mouth as Ricardo shut his eyes. Just in time. He had never really trusted Mary. He hadn't imagined she had been working for the Lord Inquisitor, but frankly? Such did not surprise him. She had been dropped in his lap without even a hint of why. So, once he knew what she was and how badly she was messed up, he had taken precautions. _Serious_ ones that only _he_ knew about.

The charge of explosive that his personal servitor medic bot had nestled in between the hemispheres of Mary's brain wasn't very large at all. It didn't _need_ to be. The blast was more than enough to completely vaporize Mary's skull and splatter both Inquisitors in a fine mist of grey matter and bone fragments. Ricardo smirked at Gornal's shocked face, now splattered with gore. Mary's headless body fell with a thump.

"I always wondered what you would look like if you _actually_ got dirty." Ricardo snorted and then spat out nastiness. "Makes the pain worth it."

"How?" Gornal demanded, his hand crackling with eldritch fire again.

"Simple." Ricardo shrugged as best he could in whatever was holding him. "The poison trap you found was standard issue and a _decoy_. The _real_ trap was not one that was hooked to anything but her auditory nerves. I never trusted her. If she ever left the ship's modified Gellar field, a trigger would arm and an atomic clock timer would start counting down. If the timer didn't go? I could set it off any time with a simple verbal command. I didn't think waiting for her to go poof was good idea."

Gornal was sputtering and Ricardo braced himself for more pain. He did not react as the force field that barred the cell with the sisters in it opaqued for a moment. When the field cleared, _four_ sisters lay there, not _five!_ None seemed to be breathing now. What was Kay doing? _Was_ Kay doing that? Gornal did not notice, he was too angry and focused on Ricardo.

"You..." Gornal slapped Ricardo again and again, his rage fanned by Ricardo's smile. "Do you have _any_ idea what it cost me to get her and keep her working?"

"No." Ricardo managed when Gornal's rage was temporarily spent. "Nor do I care. I do my duty. You do what you do." He shrugged again. "And this time? You have angered the Sororitas and a number of others. Good luck explaining it to them."

"The Sororitas will be annoyed, yes." Gornal wiped his face grimly. "But the team was with _you_ when they disappeared and you have a history of not playing nicely with them."

"There is a difference between not agreeing with their methods and having them murdered." Ricardo countered. He looked at the cell and only three sisters lay there now. All seemed to be breathing, but the machines clamped on their skulls were blinking ominously.

"Ah, my dear boy. So limited." Gornal chuckled, as he too looked at the cell. He smiled wider. "You see, I didn't kill any of them. There is no need. When I show the Sororitas in this sector what _your medic_ did to them, I don't think any of them will ever take your word for anything."

"Mary?" Ricardo asked softly. "Or the Mechanicus? Because Mary is kind of dead and if she injected her foul brews, that is fairly easy to detect and prove that I did not order."

"If your records were going to survive the unfortunate weapons malfunction on the battleship that is currently in orbit next to your ship." Gornal smiled wider, but faltered as Ricardo smiled back. "What?"

"Still deluded." Ricardo mused. "You are thinking like a politician, not an Inquisitor." The malice in his voice should have cut right through his bonds. "Maybe you were good once, Lord Inquisitor, but now?" He chuckled. "You are outclassed."

Another of the sisters moved and this time, Ricardo could see a door open on the back of the cell and a servitor pull her still form out. But… Was that _Kay_ who was pulling the sister further in as the machine went back for another fallen Sister? He swore he saw Karne upright in that hall or whatever before the door closed again. All of the sisters were gone now. So… what? He kept his eyes on the fuming Lord Inquisitor.

"The Mechanicus have demanded the abomination." Gornal said firmly. "I will deliver it to them."

"Is that so?" Ricardo asked. He bit back another scream as Gornal shocked him again.

"You will tell me where it is!" Gornal snapped. Ricardo smiled at him as the door on the back of the cell opened again and Kay stepped into it. Karne _was_ bending down over her fallen sisters as Kay stepped to the force field that barred the cell and it shut down as she touched the wall! Kay smiled a death's head grin as she stepped forward, her two handed sword appearing in her hand.

"I am glad to tell you where _she_ is." Ricardo said with a grin. Gornal stared at him and Ricardo's grin became a smirk. " _She_ is right behind you."

"Do you really think I will fall for-"

Gornal spun in place with a vile oath as Kay's power sword activated with a whine. She hadn't activated it when she had threatened Ricardo. Maybe she hadn't really wanted to kill him? Ricardo bet she had _zero_ compunction about hurting or killing Gornal. Kay swung, but Gornal _was_ fast when his hide was on the line. He vanished in the clap of a teleport.

"Damn it!" Kay snapped s she stepped forward, reaching to touch whatever was holding Ricardo down. It clicked open and Ricardo sat up, head spinning.

"He is very good at preserving his skin." Ricardo patted himself, aware now that he wore his under armor garments and nothing more. A glance nearby showed his armor piled in a heap along with his weapons. His subordinates' gear lay there too. He stared at them and then at Kay who shook her head.

"No traps I can detect." The woman said as she moved to the other cell. "Not 100%, of course. You lot _define_ sneaky at times."

"It is kind of the job." Ricardo allowed as he bent down and examined the gear closely. It looked as if it had been dropped in haste but that did not preclude a trap of some kind. Only a _fool_ left untouched gear from prisoners anywhere near said prisoners. He found a small explosive and a nerve agent dispenser hidden in his armor. He shook his head as he disarmed both. "They didn't have a lot of time."

"They had enough." Kay said weakly as she squatted in the cell where four sisters lay still again. Ricardo looked and none were breathing. Karne was sitting against the wall, her eyes slowly closing. "Karne..."

"It is all right, Kay." Karne said softly as her breath slowed. "We knew this would likely mean our deaths, but we did it. We found you."

She smiled even as she started to gasp. From the sound, it was poison and she didn't have long. Kay went to her knees beside Karne even as Lornan groaned and shook himself. Ricardo focused on his people, but left an ear towards Kay as the woman cried softly.

"I couldn't be what you wanted, Karne." Kay said weakly as she took Karne's hands in her own. "Even if I _did_ just blow my cover, I couldn't be your Canoness."

"I know. Sister… I…" Karne smiled sadly and then her face slowly relaxed. Ricardo had seen death far too many times to mistake it for anything else. Kay, it seemed was just as inured to death.

"May you find peace at the Emperor's side, Sister Karne." Kay said and started the prayers for the fallen even as Lornan roused Lisa and Mace. She finished her prayers before Mace had even risen and when she rose, everyone took a step back from the fire in her eyes. "That man killed my sisters." Kay said softly. "He said he stopped her message. He did _not stop mine_."

Everyone stilled at that, Lisa in the act of picking up her lasgun.

"What have you done?" Ricardo asked softly, trying very hard not to draw her ire.

"Traps work two ways." Kay said with a gulp and then she sighed and relaxed. "We need to find Georgia before the jaws of the trap _I_ laid close on us. She isn't in the base."

"No, she is not." A new voice had Ricardo grabbing his pistols and Lisa raising her rifle. Both slowly lowered them as a green armored form stepped out of the darkness. The Space Marine scout nodded to Kay who had frozen in place, her face a mask. "Lady Kay."

"You are not welcome here." Kay said with a growl as she hefted her sword. Ricardo stared at her and then at the Space Marine who slowly shook his head. His heraldry… Ricardo knew it, but he had never seen one before. Dark Angels. The _First_ Space Marine Legion. How the hell? And … If _they_ were here? Oh dear. The Space Wolves and Dark Angels did _not_ like one another.

"Your sisters have fallen." The Space Marine said quietly. "We stand for you and with you."

" _GO! AWAY!_ " Kay shouted, her sword up and ready. "I told you _before_ and I will tell you _again_! _NO!_ "

"The countersign is-" The Space Marine broke off as Kay's blade tip caressed his throat. He wasn't wearing a helmet. If she thrust even a little, Astartes or no, he was dead. He didn't move, didn't raise his boltgun. Indeed, he seemed _resigned!_ "My life is yours, Daughter of the Emperor."

He knew about that. How many others knew? Suddenly Ricardo felt very small and alone.

"Go! Away!" Kay growled that out.

"Countersign?" Ricardo asked, his pistols in hand for all the good they would do. Space Marine scouts did not work alone. Where were the rest of the Scout's squad? Did the Inquisitor _really_ want to know? "What countersign?"

"Shut up!" Kay snapped, her patience fleeing. She glared at the Scout. "And you! I _told_ you to go away!"

"I cannot do that, Lady Kay." The Scout said firmly. "Kill me if you must. My life, my death… They are yours."

"No!" Kay shouted. "No! I refused it before and I refuse it now!"

"Refused?" Ricardo slipped his armor on as quickly as he could, checking each piece for sabotage or traps.

"That is your right, Lady Kay." The Dark Angel scout said quietly. "But _our_ duty is not changed. Your sisters have fallen to treachery. We are here. You will be protected."

"And how do I know _you_ are not _involved_ in this _?_ " Kay snapped, not moving her sword blade. "Your kind lie as easy as you breathe!"

"Not to you." The scout said flatly. "We never lied to you."

"No." Kay seemed to be pulling teeth to admit that. "You just used me for your own ends. Leaving me to him." She shook her head. "I will never forget _or_ forgive." She snapped. "You left me to _him!_ "

"What we did was wrong." The Dark Angel had not introduced himself. Not that surprising from such a secretive chapter. "We did not understand who and what you were. When we realized, we struck with all our power. But he had moved you. We searched, Lady."

" _Go_. _Away_." Kay snarled and spun on her heel. Mace had armored up by then, Lornan and Lisa stood by Ricardo's side as he finally got all of his own armor up and activated.

"You are dismissing backup?" Mace asked slowly.

"Backup. Sure. Backup who once sold me out to a _Chaos Lord_." Kay said flatly. Everyone stared at the Dark Angel who looked at the floor. "So _no_. I won't ever trust _any_ of them. _Ever_ again."

"You did _what?_ " Ricardo snapped, his own anger flaring. Even if Kay hadn't been the Emperor's daughter, the very thought of a _Space Marine_ doing that… He froze. "He is not a Dark Angel, is he?"

"Oh yes, he is." Kay snapped as she strode for the door. The scout started to follow her, but stopped sort as her blade nearly took his head off. "They are just as pragmatic as any Chaos scum when they are thwarted."

"You are angry." The scout said softly. "You have cause."

"Thank you for admitting that." Kay snarked. "When _you_ have spent a hundred and _six_ years in a _Chaos dungeon_ because some _moron_ in green armor decided you were lying to him, when you _weren't_ , _then_ you can complain to me. Until then? Fuck off, you lousy excuse for a Lion."

With that, she bolted from the room. The Dark Angel heaved a deep sigh and moved to follow her. The others did the same. When they left the room, though, she was nowhere in sight and the scout shook his head.

"What the hell were you Dark Angels _thinking?_ " Ricardo demanded.

"We were not." The scout shook his head and started off. "She went this way, my brothers are pacing her. Hopefully we can keep up with her or the Chapter master will be _very_ annoyed with us."

"Where is Georgia?" Ricardo demanded as he followed the scout deeper into the Mechanicus base. "Kay will go after her."

"We did some recon. They are taking Kay's daughter to the vehicle depot." The scout replied just a something rumbled in the distance. "And… Right on time." He didn't look happy and Ricardo glared a question at him. "Thing will get very loud now." Two more scouts materialized out of side corridors and they all took off at a run. Ricardo and his people kept up, but it wasn't easy. The one who had been speaking spoke again. "Say what you will about the Sons of Russ, they very rarely pass up a fight."

"The Titans?" Ricardo asked tightly. The scouts nodded. "Shit."

"It gets worse." The scout who had been talking said with a frown. "Another crossed the lines half an hour ago, tearing a huge hole in the Guard's defenses as it went. No one even knew that monstrosity was on planet."

"Oh?" Ricardo asked. "Let me guess? Bigger?"

"Yes. Imperator class." The Dark Angel shook his head.

"He comes for her and it is our fault."


	15. Chapter 15

**Hubris**

Ricardo managed to keep up with the trio of running Space Marines, but his team were not able to maintain the punishing pace. A silent order had them fanning out to search the facility.

"How many of you on planet?" Ricardo demanded when the scouts paused to regroup and check a map they had made.

"Two squads." The spokesman replied, not looking at Ricardo. "We were ordered to find her. We have been on the hunt for two years."

"Only two years?" Ricardo shook his head "The Emperor guided you."

"We have advantages." The scout did not elaborate. "She is much faster than we are and sneaky as hell. She has subverted a good half of the Mechanicus defenses, hence why they fled."

"I would too if she was that angry with me." Ricardo admitted. All three of the Space Marines nodded. "She is not happy with you lot."

"She has a right to that." The scouts started off again and Ricardo kept up easier this time. They were moving carefully and Ricardo had all of his armor sensors online now as well. "We didn't know." The Dark Angel slumped a little. "When we found out, when we realized who she was… Our Chapter Master was _unhappy_."

"What the hell did you do?" Ricardo demanded and then paused as another green armored form joined the group. This one wore a white robe over his armor and had two pistols holstered at his sides. Team leader? Those pistols seemed familiar. Like Ricardo, the marine used a bolt pistol and a plasma pistol. He made a motion and all three of the scouts vanished. Ricardo started, but the newcomer shook his head.

"We need you, Inquisitor." The newcomer said flatly. "We need you to speak to Kay for us. We _earned_ her rage. We didn't know who and what she was until _much_ later. Our Chapter encountered her on a dead world called Getlrica V. Our orders were to purge the place of a heretical warband. We didn't know there were sisters of the Order of the Martyred Lady fighting there until we landed. We were too late, they were overwhelmed. By the time we arrived, only Kay still breathed, but was mortally wounded. We saw what she does and to our shame, we did not realize _who_ she was. We believed her spawn of Chaos or tainted, so we shot her every time we saw her. We used her as a distraction to flank the Chaos horde every time her scavenged vehicles approached us. We refused to listen to her pleas over the vox. We thought them simply more Chaos tricks. Then we left her there when our purge was completed. We thought she was Chaos spawn, not… what she really is. None of us cared that she was trying to surrender. To explain. Our shame knows no bounds, Inquisitor. If she demands our lives, we must give them to her."

"She said you left her to 'Him'." Ricardo said flatly. "What 'Him'?"

"Kay was stuck on planet with no way off. No coms. As part of our purge, we bombarded and destroyed the sole surviving long range vox facility." The Marine shook his head. "She is immortal, but that does not make her invincible. Far from it. As soon as we realized what had happened, who she was, we returned to the planet in force. To recover her, to _beg_ her forgiveness. To offer our lives if needed. We were too late. We found a newly wrecked Leman Russ tank that she had apparently gotten running from the wrecks on planet. It had been _stepped on_. We found a partially destroyed log. Kay's rage at us, her totally _understandable_ rage at us, shone through that log."

"'Stepped'" Ricardo had thought himself beyond horror. He wasn't.. "A Titan."

"And not just _any_ Titan." The DarkAngel seemed to wilt. "We left her there and the Chaos Lord Rachinos who controls the Traitor Titan 'Facta Impia' found her. She fought as best she could, but he took her prisoner and it took her some time to escape."

"Emperor!" Ricardo snarled and his hands were on his pistols. "You _bastards_!"

"We did not know who she was." The Marine said sternly. "What would you have done? We had little time to finish our purge. Our Chapter Master _was_ very annoyed with us when he discovered the truth." He trailed off. "We keep secrets. Our record keepers knew who she was as soon as the team described her. The Chapter Master deployed the _entire_ available Chapter to recover her and we were too late. We searched that planet, but the Titan was gone and so was Kay."

"And you are here, _now_ … because…?" Ricardo didn't believe in coincidence.

"Because what the Mechanicus did to her daughter sent up a flare across the Warp." The Dark Angel said savagely. "We were re-provisioning at a station nearby when our Navigator started screaming about the Emperor's wrath. About 'him' coming. Our standing orders are to search for Kay in addition as our other duties. The Inquisitor Lord requested our aid in setting this trap and our navigator still hasn't recovered, so we were not leaving. He didn't say who he was trapping. Imagine our shock when we arrived and found _Kay's daughter_ as the bait! We told him we could not aid him. He did not take that well."

"I bet not." Ricardo said dryly. "And now?"

"He ordered us off planet, but we knew she would come." The Dark Angel shook his head. "We owe her a debt of pain and blood. As she said, _one hundred and six years_ as a prisoner of Chaos. Who knows how many times she died in that horror?"

"But her faith was strong." The more Ricardo learned about Kay, the more he admired her.

"Yes." The Dark Angel shared his awe, apparently. "They wanted to turn her to the service of the Chaos gods. Her faith was stronger than their evil."

"What does Chaos want more than anything?" Ricardo asked rhetorically. "Revenge on the Emperor. Corrupting his daughter would be an epic revenge." He slumped a bit. "Another Traitor Titan?"

"Yes." The Dark Angel started off again and Ricardo could keep up easily this time. "Imperator class."

"Emperor."

Imperator class Titans were the largest and most powerful of Titan class war machines. Their durability and firepower were the stuff of legends both wondrous and horrible. They had been known to savage entire _armies_ all by themselves. Their firepower rivaled some void ships.

"There is _one_ small piece of good news." The Dark Angel said quietly. "The Traitor Rashinos doesn't like or trust anyone else. His arrival on planet was apparently not expected by _anyone_. We have reports of widespread devastation on _both_ sides of the lines. Apparently, he blew his way through the lines from where he landed and didn't bother not aiming at the Chaos positions. He did just as much damage to the heretics as he did to the loyalists. Maybe more."

"Small mercies." Ricardo shook his head. "So… You want me to try and talk to Kay? She just lost her sisters. If the Mechanicus or Gornal hurt her daughter… She will go berserk." He actually shivered and the Space Marine nodded.

"Her daughter is safe and as secure as the Mechanicus could make her." The Dark Angel offered. "We saw her for a moment, but there was no way to recover her without a firefight that would have likely gotten her killed. We have maintained watch since then. They have her strapped down, sedated and in stasis. They had an entire company of Skitarrii, but now? Who knows how many they have left."

"They think Georgia has powers." Ricardo shook his head. "I was going to say 'gifts' but they are not." The Dark Angel nodded. "May I know your name, warrior?"

"You may call me Ciphas." The other said with a nod. "We have little time. The Sons of Russ will defeat the two Warhounds, although it may cost them. They have little chance against an Imperator class."

"They won't care." Ricardo snorted.

"No, they won't." Ciphas agreed with a sour chuckle of his own. "Scary thing is, they might win anyway. Betting against the Son of Russ in battle is a losing proposition as we have discovered to our cost on occasion. But the _major_ concern at the moment is this: The being in command of that Titan hurt Kay very badly." Ricardo stared at the Dark Angel, jaw falling. "She must face him and defeat him or she will never be who she was intended to be."

"You think _Kay_ can beat an Imperator class Titan?" Ricardo demanded, incredulous.

"I know she can." The Dark Angel sounded serene now. "But _she_ does not. She is broken from all of what she has endured. We have been tracking her for a very long time. We know how badly others have hurt her since she escaped the Chaos Lord. We know what the Sacred Rose did to her." Rage sounded deep in his tone. "Our Chapter Master was not happy with that particular Canoness."

"I cannot imagine _why_." Ricardo snapped. "So… We need to recover Georgia before the Mechanicus do whatever madness they have planned. And then we need to get Kay to whatever vehicle is in that depot." Ciphas nodded. "Have they excavated it?"

"Not entirely." The Dark Angel led Ricardo through another series of passages and the Inquisitor updated his map as a matter of course. "As soon as they realized what it was, they stopped short. Smart of the cogs."

"Considering what happened to them the _last_ time they tried to dismantle one of Kay's vehicles, small _wonder_ they turned a bit cautious." Ricardo stumbled a bit as the floor under him angled up, but he still kept up with the Marine as Ciphas led the way to an armored hatch. A quick command and it opened to sunlight.

"The Emperor kept his secrets secure." Ciphas said sternly as the mismatched pair exited the facility.

The area around them was untouched by war. In another time and place, Ricardo might have noted the beauty of the surrounding area. Now? He started off for the coordinates that flashed on his HUD. Thunder that had nothing to do with weather sounded in the distance and flashes lit the horizon. Man made lightning.

The Marine made a gesture and Ricardo paused for a moment, sending a quick message. He was ordering his people to catch up when they could. They would likely need the Valkyrie to catch up in time however and flying right now might be a very _bad_ idea. He warned them about the new Titan and closed his com.

"Kay said she set a trap." Ricardo started running and the Space Marine paced him. Both had drawn their weapons. A quick glance at the Marines showed his were just as ornate as Ricardo's but they looked ancient. Well used and well maintained. "Any idea what she meant?"

"Probably something to do with the Sisters." The Marine wasn't even breathing hard. Small wonder. After all of his modifications, he wasn't human anymore and Ricardo still was. "That scum will rue the day he killed Kay's students."

"No joke." Ricardo skirted a pile of brush and was only somewhat surprised when it rose and joined the pair in running. A hidden Dark Angels scout.

"Report!" Ciphas snapped.

"No sign of Lady Kay." The scout said firmly. "Recon team reports the Mechanicus crawler has reached the depot. Sniper and strike team are in position, but we cannot guaranteed the child's safety, sir."

"I know." Ciphas said heavily. "Whatever madness they plan cannot be allowed to prosper. They _cannot_ take Hospitallar Georgia to Mars. If Kay follows them there, we _will_ go after her and I know other Chapters will as well along with any number of Sisters."

"And trigger an Imperium wide civil war." Ricardo said with a grunt. "Which is the _last_ thing we need right now."

"We mined the approaches." The scout said quietly. Ricardo stopped in mid-stride and the scout continued. "Stun mines only, but they don't know that."

"Good. That will slow them." Ricardo started off again, both Marines pacing him. "Kay is angry, but she is not stupid." Both Dark Angels nodded. "She will pick her time and probably subvert as many of the Skitarrii as she can."

"If she wasn't who she was, we would have to purge her for that ability alone." Ciphas said darkly. Ricardo shrugged and the Space Marine subsided.

"I doubt the entire Mechanicus is involved in this." Ricardo mused. "Even if they do know, they will distance themselves. Both from _your_ wrath _and_ from Kay's."

"She has cause to be angry." Ciphas said quietly. "We were moving in to recover her when she escaped from that Mechanicus lab. She blew it to hell and took Georgia away."

"How long have you been chasing her?" Ricardo asked, confused. "That was what? Twenty years ago?"

"My team? Two years. The Deathwing was in the area on another assignment when we discovered that the Mechanicus had her." Ciphas allowed. "Half of the team continued the assignment and the _other_ half went after Kay. They were _rather_ annoyed when they got there and found it a shambles. They tore the place apart for intelligence and when we discovered _what_ Magos Rebekah had done? It took the _Chapter Master_ himself to keep the Deathwing from marching on _Mars_."

"They might have won." Ricardo had heard lots of stories about the First Company of the Dark Angels.

"They might have." Ciphas agreed. "We hurt her, the Sacred Rose hurt her and then the cogs hurt her." He shook his head. "Small wonder she is so angry, but she must face the Chaos Lord if she is to get past it. Only then can she be who she must be."

He broke off with an 'urk' as the vegetation nearby erupted and Kay came out of it, her blade leading her charge. Ricardo and the scout backpedaled, but the Dark Angel who led the team just stood as Kay's sword descended. He didn't even raise his pistols! Her blade cut deep into his side and he _stood there_ , looking at her as she cut deeper.

" _I! SAID! NO!_ " Kay screamed.

""Countersign is..." The Space Marine started, but broke off as Kay twisted the blade in his wound.

Everything stopped as something hit the ground nearby in the small clearing they stood in. Ricardo's eyes went huge as he saw the towering thing. A Space Wolf drop pod! The doors fell and a bulk strode down the ramp. The Space Wolves Dreadnought was an impressive and terrifying sight. No, this was a _venerable_ dreadnought, covered in gilt and the trophies of ancient wars. Even older and stronger than a regular dreadnought, the mortally wounded Space Marine inside was a relic of another time, a fearless and probably peerless warrior of a chapter that boasted many such. Its assault cannon and power fist had seen much use. Kay stared at the dreadnought, jaw falling and everything stopped again as it spoke.

"I am Bjorn, called the Fell Handed. You spoke the code 'Freya'. The countersign is 'Ragnarok'." The ancient warrior's voice held sorrow as Kay released her sword and stumbled back, leaving it buried in the Dark Angel. "I am sorry, Lady Kay."

"No!" Kay begged, tripping and falling almost all the way to her knees. "No! Not like this! I _can't_!"

"You can and you _must_." The Space Wolf said sternly. "The Emperor made you for a purpose. Will you deny his will?"

Kay screamed, falling fully to her knees and clutching her head as golden energy poured out of her. She was crying, tears of golden energy falling to evaporate before they hit the ground. Ricardo didn't know what to do. He took a step, but paused as the Dark Angel barred his way. Kay's sword stuck out of him like a grisly decoration.

"This is her test." Ciphas was quiet, reverent. "We cannot interfere."

"And if she perishes?" Ricardo asked. "Will she come back?"

"None can know." The Space Wolf was watching Kay as the woman shimmered with golden energy. Her screams had stopped, now, she was just crying. "The Emperor was interrupted before his experiments were done. Kay was his only success."

"If she..." Ricardo could not say it.

"Our chapters will remember her no matter what." The Son of the Lion nodded to the ancient Wolf. "We may disagree on much, but not this. _Never_ this."

"She _is_ his daughter." The Space Wolf agreed. "Perhaps not of the body, but of the mind and soul. She was his hope for the future. His shining light that he hoped would light the way for humanity to a bright future. All lost in darkness."

"Not all." Kay's voice was hoarse from crying and screaming. All of the eyes in the small clearing turned to Kay who rose, her Sororitas armor now shining golden. "Much has been lost. Much has been denied us." Her tone was odd, not quite the same as it had been. More resonant? More vibrant? More. She straightened and her blade leaped from the wounded Dark Angel to find her hand. She spun it to clean the blood off, but did not sheathe it. "I will face Rashinos. For myself. For my father. For all the innocents the madman has slain."

Ricardo relaxed, but then realized, Kay _hadn't_. She was glaring at Ciphas. The Dreadnought did not move either. Everything seemed poised on a knife edge.

"You." Kay said finally after a seeming eternity. "You lied to me and the Inquisitor."

"Nothing I or my men said was untrue." Ciphas replied, not seeming to notice the blood that was still flowing down his front and soiling his robe. "We are here to help you. If you wish my life, it is yours."

"Is that so, _Ciphas_?" Kay snapped. She looked at the dreadnought. "And _your_ position in this?"

"I have enough problems keeping my own brothers from folly." Bjorn said calmly. "He remembered the ancient pact as I did. They are coming for him. _Everyone_ is sending forces. Some to see you, some to try and control you." He chuckled in a mechanical way. "If I had any, I would pay good money to see them try that."

"You wolves always _did_ have sick senses of humor." The wounded Dark Angel said sourly.

"Guilty as charged." The dreadnought replied. "Lady Kay… Emperor's Daughter. His fate is in your hands."

"I am not my father." Kay sounded resigned as she stared at the Dark Angel or whatever he was.

"You know that, _Cypher_."


	16. Chapter 16

**Royale**

Cypher.

The name skittered around the small clearing as if on claws. Ricardo had seen records of the warrior known only as Cypher. He had seen classified reports of the Terran Crusade, the path that Roboute Guilliman had taken to Terra and the misadventures that the Ultramarines Primarch had encountered along the way. Cypher was wanted _very_ badly by the Dark Angels Chapter of Space Marines. The fact that he wore armor that was identical to theirs was bad enough, but he had evaded their capture teams for centuries, maybe longer. How old was this being? Ricardo had seen records going back thousands of years. Odd records. None knew if he was an ally of the Imperium or an enemy. _One_ thing was sure, trouble followed in his wake. As did the Dark Angels.

"I never lied to you, Daughter." Cypher said slowly.

"You left me to _him!_ " Kay snapped. "You _used_ me and _left_ me to him!"

"Yes." Cypher said quietly. "We did. That warband needed to die, they were causing far more trouble than any others in the area. You were a useful distraction and we assumed you were simply warpspawn."

" _YOU LEFT ME TO HIM!_ " Kay screamed, her sword up and ready again. Cypher didn't move.

"We came back." Cypher slowly bent, kneeling before Kay's wrath. "I didn't remember until I checked the records. A week, Daughter. It took me a week to peruse my records and as soon as I did… We came _back!_ "

"You left me to him." Kay was shaking in rage as Cypher bowed his head. "Do you have _any_ _idea_ what he did to me?"

"Yes." Cypher said quietly. "I do. We searched for you. We 'acquired' several of his servants and we persuaded them to talk. We are not the equals of the Dark Angels Interrogator Chaplains, but we do have skills." His head came up and his eyes were bleak as he stared at Kay. "You say you told us no, that is not true. You told the _Chapter_ 'No'. Azreal himself sent that message to you, asking if you would take your place as a light for the Imperium. The Deathwing _did_ march on the facility where the Mechanicus held you. _They_ have been seeking you as hard as we have. You know this. Do you know _why_?"

"You..." Kay was shaking. From rage or sorrow? It was hard to say. "... _lie!_ "

"I am not lying." Cypher was calm and assured. "The truth cuts far deeper than any lie in this case. We _wronged_ you, my men and I. We did not know who you were until it was too late. My men and I may very well be lost and unforgivable, but you… You are _not_." He shook his head. " _I_ sent word to the Dark Angels as soon as I realized you were in his clutches. Your life is worth more than mine. _Far_ more!" He declared. "But if Rashinos takes your daughter..."

Kay was gone. One moment, she was standing there, blade hovering to end the kneeling sort-of Dark Angel. The next? Only a whisper of wind traced her passing.

"She hasn't changed from what Ulrik told me." Bjorn turned and started off. Cypher rose and followed in the huge war machine's wake. He was still bleeding! Ricardo following as well, almost punch drunk by all this. "Still as impulsive as the day she was born."

"Decisiveness in a battlefield commander is not a bad trait." Cypher replied. "She is not stupid. She won't rush in."

"She loves..." Ricardo paused as she remembered Kay's non-verbal warning. He doubted she had changed her mind and he knew that if she decided he was dead? He was. Had that really only been a day ago? "She cares deeply for her sisters. For Georgia."

"After all the pain she has endured, it is a small wonder she still dares to feel." Cypher replied, face grim. "We have to save Georgia, get her clear before the Chaos Lord arrives. If he threatens Georgia or kills her…"

"Kay may very well fall to her rage." Ricardo finished for the Space Marine. Cypher nodded. "As strong as she is, she is at her limits. We cannot let that happen."

"Outside of her vehicle, she is vulnerable." Bjorn interjected. "We need to get her to it and rescue Georgia at the same time. My brothers are occupied with the Titans. Yours?" He spoke to Cypher who nodded.

"I have two squads. One of scouts, one of tactical equipped marines." The Fallen Dark Angel said with a frown. "Both are deployed around the depot and facility. The scouts have rearmed with sniper weapons and are moving to take the depot approach under long range fire. They can harry the Skitarri, but they cannot hold out against a full assault by such." He looked at the Dreadnought. "May I ask your aid, Son of Russ?"

"If it were for _you_? Not a chance." Bjorn replied evenly. "But for _her_? _We_ call her pack mate and sister." Cypher jerked and then nodded slowly. Bjorn wasn't done. "If you hurt her in any way further, I will tear you apart."

"We have hurt her _enough_." Cypher agreed. "Part of me almost wishes she had struck clean and true." Bjorn did not reply and the odd trio marched in silence for a time. Finally, Cypher spoke again "What of you, Inquisitor?"

"What _of_ me?" Ricardo asked, "I was tasked to determine if Kay was impersonating a Sororitas. She was not and is not. She _is_ Sororitas in every way. They believe they are spiritual daughters of the Emperor, she is a _true_ daughter and she follows their faith. She claims nothing for herself, only for her father and the people she is sworn to protect." Cypher looked at him and Ricardo shrugged. "I seems I was manipulated into this to lead Kay into this trap. I don't mind being bait if needed, but Kay _is_ what she seems. The Lord Inquisitor who set this all up doesn't seem to care what she is. I _do_." He said softly. "I have seen far too much darkness to believe that there is hope, but if there is? She will bring it."

"I know the feeling." Cypher said softly.

"What do _you_ wish of her?" Ricardo asked. "What little I know of you says you cannot be trusted."

"I have my own duty." Cypher replied. "One laid on my shoulders long, long ago. I too have been in the darkness so long, it is hard to look at the light. I cannot speak of why I do what I do. I _can_ say I helped Guilliman in the hopes of an audience with the Emperor." Both Bjorn and Ricardo froze at that. "I was denied such, but… Honestly? I do not know if I deserve it. Especially after what happened with Kay."

"You are a Dark Angel." Ricardo said slowly. Cypher nodded. "But you do not serve the Chapter."

"I serve my oaths to Lion El'Jonson and the Emperor." Cypher replied. "That has put me at odds with the Chapter on many occasions. I cannot speak of why, but I _can_ speak of what I will do now. Kay _will_ be protected even if I must surrender to the Chapter that still hunts me. _They_ can protect her. They offered such before and she refused."

"I do not understand." Ricardo replied. "Why would she refuse such?"

"I cannot say for certain." Cypher frowned. "Son of Russ?"

"She feels honor bound to the oaths she swore to her father. To serve the people of the Imperium, not to seek power for its own sake." Bjorn replied as the dreadnought plowed through the underbrush, slowed little if at all. "I did not know her, but our Legion was tasked with maintaining one such depot on Fenris, so we were told the ancient sign and countersign if we ever encountered her."

"As were we on Caliban. It did not survive the destruction of our world." Cypher allowed. "No records I have found have said _why_ she was hidden away and never woken. I believe Horus' troops drove the loyal forces from the planet on which she slept before she could be awoken, but I can find no records of that."

"Nor can we." Bjorn replied. "All we can do is endure and protect her now."

"Indeed." Cypher said firmly. "We will protect her." He held up a hand as the forest thinned a bit. "We are getting close."

A Space Marine scout in Dark Angels colors slithered down a slope and came up to the trio at a run as they stopped.

"Sir!" The scout nodded to Cypher. He did not salute, not in the field where snipers might be hidden. "Something odd is happening at the depot. The Skitarrii are under attack and not by us." Cypher and the others looked at Bjorn, but the scout continued. "Not by the Wolves either."

"Then who?" Ricardo demanded. "Kay is running right into the middle of whatever it is."

"As you say, she is not stupid." Cypher looked at the scout. "What can you tell us, sergeant?"

"Not much, sir." The scout sergeant said with a frown. "Whoever is attacking the Mechanicus is fast and adept at staying out of sight. My team is dug in on high ground and we have clear line of sight to most of the depot, but we have only seen shadows. Imperial Guard forces are dug in around a far perimeter. Elysians, if I am not mistaken."

"You are not." Ricardo smiled grimly. He knew Sentars would have posted guards looking _both_ ways. She trusted Gornal almost as much as Ricardo himself did. Not at _all_. "I may be able to get them to aid us."

"Or you may get gunned down as soon as you break cover if they were given orders to do so." Cypher shook his head. "Even one squad could do you in if they are in cover with heavy weapons."

"True." Ricardo shook his head. "Thing is, for all of his brains, Gornal is a _politician_. Not a soldier. Maybe he was one once, but he hadn't been for years. Maybe longer." Cypher and Bjorn looked at him. "He will think of protecting himself first and _then_ the mission. If we threaten him, he will flee. If he sees a Chaos Titan up close? He will wet himself and _then_ flee."

"What is he doing, exactly?" Cypher demanded. "His actions make no sense."

"He apparently was told by the Mechanicus that the tank could be duplicated." Ricardo said sourly. "They want Kay to serve their Omnissiah. They couldn't care less about tech that they know they cannot touch." He paused. "Although she said some STC fragments were found in the depot she had slept in. There are probably more in this one and they probably want those as well."

Both Dark Angels nodded. Such things were the epitome of buried treasure across the Imperium. Wealth beyond imagination.

"Do the Mechanicus know who she is?" Bjorn asked.

"I don't think they do." Ricardo allowed. "They call her an abomination and apparently that is how they described her to the Lord Inquisitor. But if that is the case..." He mused. "Why would they want her to serve them? This makes no sense to me."

"You have see what she can do." Cypher said with a grunt. "Few alive can say that. The Mechanicus likely know about her abilities. Hence why they tried to duplicate her."

"And hence why she hates them so much." Ricardo said savagely,. "Can't blame her for that."

"I sought information on what the Mechanicus did to her." Cypher said slowly. "I found some. It was horrible. As bad or worse that what the Chaos Lord did, if for a shorter time. They were trying to warp her mind. They did not succeed."

"That is good. Isn't it?" Ricardo asked as Cypher looked at the sky,

"I don't know enough about her." Cypher admitted. "I _do_ know that even Space Marines can break when pushed too hard or too long. She is not a regular human, but she shares so many similarities with them. With the code and countersign given, her body _will_ change to be more like the Emperor."

"And?" Ricardo demanded,

"I don't _know_." Cypher snapped. "You?" He asked the dreadnought.

"No." Bjorn replied. "I _do_ know the ceremony for her ascension was meant to be done in comfort, surrounded by allies, medical support and people who could protect her. Not in the midst of a wilderness with her child in jeopardy."

"Then what say we do what we can to protect the Emperor's daughter and _her_ child?" Ricardo checked his pistols as Cypher nodded to his sergeant. "I have done many things that I regret. I don't think this will be one of them."

The scout sergeant vanished back up the slope.

"There is a ravine nearby that I can use to approach closer." Bjorn said. "When you start the fight, I will come. Try not to get in my way."

"For the Lion and for Russ. For the Emperor and his daughter. Let the heavens sing." Cypher intoned as he drew his pistols and checked them. His wound had stopped bleeding. "Let the darkness fear our wrath. I may not be one of the Emperor's chosen warriors anymore but I honor my vows."

Without further word, Bjorn strode off, his form impossibly nimble and incredibly quiet in the thin forest. The human and the Space Marine started off as well towards the now visible edge of the forest. As they walked, Ricardo set up his recorders for automatic record and playback when tweaked with Inquisition codes that were not Gornal's. He didn't know if he would survive this, but the Inquisition would need to know. Kay would likely kill anyone who came after her and she was the Emperor's daughter. She _was_ the Imperium. His oath was to protect the Imperium as was hers. He admired her and in the deepest recesses of his soul, he knew he was more than a bit awed by her.

"Skitarri ahead." Cypher warned as green beams lanced out across the sky. "Fighting…" He paused and then cursed softly. "Oh _hell!_ "

Ricardo shared the Fallen's sentiments. The Skitarri were being overwhelmed by a squad of forms that flitted in an out of shadow. Tall, thin forms. Dark Eldar. He gripped his weapons tightly.

"Mandrakes. There cannot be many. Yet." Ricardo said softly. "Any commanders in sight?"

"No." Cypher growled in annoyance as the Skitarri were boxed in and the resulting melee was swift. "That damn flare. The Mechanicus summoned all kinds of scum to this battlefield."

"Our mission hasn't changed." Ricardo said firmly even as the Mandrakes ran off towards a set of boxy buildings in the distance. "Where is that excavation you spoke of?"

"That way. This has to be a trap for Kay." Cypher started forward, his pistols in hand. The Dark Eldar stuck without warning, swiftly and mercilessly. "The others are distractions. The Mechanicus will be ready for her."

"Maybe for her." Ricardo said savagely. "Not for _us._ "

"You hope." Cypher chuckled. "All this time fighting and here I stand fighting beside an Inquisitor to aid the Emperor's _daughter_. Of all the things I expected, I never thought it would come to this."

A raging firestorm was visible on the horizon. Flashes and detonations were occurring just over it. The Space Wolves were doing what they always did, fighting. The perimeter was also alive with fire as Imperial Guard troops engaged sweeping forms in dark, angular armor. The Dark Eldar raiders were not doing very well. They had probably expected to strike without warning, but Elysians were nothing if not adaptable. Ricardo knew the 743rd had fought Dark Eldar before. They would take casualties and not all would die, but they would hold. Any who survived to be taken to the Dark Eldar home would pray for death and it would not take them for a long, long time. So the drop troops fought even harder then normal, knowing the horror that awaited them if they failed.

"Good troops." Cypher said softly and then tensed as a dark form stepped out into his view. The Dark Eldar was eyeing the Elysian lines, his back to the approaching pair. The pair of hulking bodyguard beside him turned to watch Ricardo and Cypher approach.

"Well, well, well..." The Dark Elder commander spun in place and Ricardo had to fight to keep his stomach contents down as he saw a flayed human face spread across the front of the evil xenos' helmet. "What have we here?"

"One chance, xenos scum." Cypher said firmly as he continued to walk forward. Ricardo matched his stride. Both held their weapons ready. "Run now and live. Stay here and die."

"Ooo, bold." The Dark Elder hefted a pistol weapon of some kind but did not flinch as Cypher closed the distance. Both bodyguard held long polearms that they gripped in readiness. " _You_ are going to be fun to break!"

"There is a problem with that." Cypher's tone was conversational as he closed the gap. " _You_ are dead."

Whatever the Dark Eldar was going to say to that was cut off as _both_ of his bodyguards fell with smoking holes in their helmets. Before the Dark Eldar Leader could realize that he had been tricked into standing in the open, two _more_ sniper shots hit him. Both glanced off of some kind of shield, but now _Cypher_ was firing. Two plasma shots and then a bolt round fired so fast that even Ricardo's enhanced senses thought they were a single shot tore into the Dark Eldar and he fell. Cypher stepped right up to the Dark Eldar who was scrabbling for his fallen pistol and shot the xenos in the helmet with his plasma pistol. Then he fired twice more with his bolt pistol, both rounds slamming into the gut of the alien. He was still moving as Ricardo belatedly opened fire, his plasma and bolt rounds tearing into the fallen xenos. Cypher shot both of the bodyguards again, this time with plasma at very close range. Their armor wasn't proof from _that_.

In moments, all three of the Dark Eldar lay silent and still. None would rise from the Dark Angel's and Inquisitor's wrath. A cry went up around the area and Ricardo could see tall thin shapes fleeing in every direction. Many were cut down by the Elysians, but some of the xenos vanished into the forest.

"Cleaning them out of there is going to be a bitch." Ricardo said sourly as he reloaded his bolt pistol. Cypher hadn't seemed to, but Ricardo bet he had.

"Not our problem." Cypher said with a shrug. "Our problem… Oh no!"

He sounded stunned. Almost _afraid_! Ricardo looked ahead and his own blood ran cold as he saw a small crowd of very dead Skitarii forms clustered around an immobile stasis pod. Kay stood in front of the pod, her face savage as she faced both the Magos and Inquisitor Gornal with her sword in hand. The Magos was recoiling, but Gornal held a bolt pistol/crossbow combination weapon that he was aiming carefully. Kay's eyes were focused on the Magos, she didn't seem to see the Lord Inquisitor!

" _KAY!_ " Ricardo and Cypher shouted her name as one.

Too late. Gornal fired.


	17. Chapter 17

**Victory is-! Um… oops?**

He didn't remember starting to run, but Ricardo was in motion, Cypher right beside him. The few remaining Skitarii from Kay's apparent attack were falling to his fire along with the Dark Angel's even as Kay collapsed against the stasis pod, her left arm bloody around a metal crossbow bolt and her sword falling from nerveless fingers. A force field of some kind slammed up in between the onrushing pair of enraged warriors and the trio around the stasis pod. Cypher shot it once with each of his weapons and nothing happened. Ricardo started to scan it, looking for weaknesses as Cypher paced around the edge, seeing a hole, a vulnerability, something!

The field did not block sound and Ricardo felt his blood boil as Gornal stepped forward and kicked Kay's sword away from her scrabbling fingers. The Lord Inquisitor was gloating.

"You had no chance, you foul thing." Gornal was saying as he kicked again, his boot slamming into Kay's bleeding arm. Kay did not react. Indeed, she did not take her eyes from the Magos who rushed forward.

"Do not damage it!" Magos Rebekah said sternly. "We cannot duplicate the workmanship. We must keep it as intact as possible." Kay screamed as energy washed over her, odd green energy. It surrounded her and started to close in, but then it stopped, held away by golden energy. The Magos stared at her, apparently disconcerted.. "This is sub-optimal."

"Delivered as promised, Magos." Gornal said with a grunt as he turned to look at Ricardo whose hate filled glare should have rendered the elder Inquisitor to ash. "Always late, boy."

"And as always, you are a _moron_." Ricardo snapped. "You have no _idea_ what you are doing. Stand down, now! In the name of the _Imperium_!"

"This is _for_ the Imperium!" Gornal snarled, his eyes drawn to Cypher who was stalking back and forth in front of the shield like a cornered cat. "And you? Traitor! You dare to side with him?"

"I do _not_ side with him." Cypher retorted. "I side with _her_." He nodded to Kay whose face was strained as the Magos did something else. The green energy pressed in, but then it was tossed back as golden energy powered from Kay again.

"This is new." The Magos now sounded jubilant. "The Omnissiah will be very pleased."

"Your Omnissiah can _go fuck itself_." Kay gritted out as something flashed nearby. Outside the shield. Ricardo ignored that to try and find a way in. He had to help Kay! She gave a sharp cry as the green energy pressed closer in. "I will not serve you subhuman scum!"

"Nobody said you had a choice, abomination." Magos Rebekah replied, appendages flying as her energy swept towards Kay again and again. It was repulsed, but each time, the energy came closer to Kay. She was weakening. Whatever was happening, Ricardo bet that energy wouldn't do good things when it touched Kay. "You will serve. You should be pleased. You _and_ your progeny will-" She broke off as Kay surged to her feet and the energy that had been surrounding her vanished in a clap of raw golden power. One look at Kay's now golden glowing eyes and Ricardo knew the worst had occurred. Kay had just lost it. "What? No!"

"Kay! Stop!" A new voice shouted as Kay's sword flew to her hand again and she staggered forward. Gornal had reloaded his crossbow and was aiming again, but Kay lashed out almost absently and his bolt pistol went flying. It hit the inside of the shield and skittered away in a scatter of sparks. He stared at her in shock, but she ignored him to advance on the now terrified Magos. He raised his hand and blue green lightning reached out to connect him and her. _She ignored it!_

" _KAY!_ " The new voice screamed again. Ricardo went still as two female forms appeared at his side. He didn't know either of them. One wore Sororitas armor, the other Inquisition witch hunter armor. The Sororitas gasped and spun to the newly come Inquisitor. "She cannot _hear_ me!" The Sororitas shouted. " _Why_ can she not hear me?"

"I don't know. The shield or her rage or both." The new Inquisitor was cold as ice, her eyes scanning across the area with infinite patience and an utter lack of pity. "A strong shield, but that fool has made a _serious_ mistake. _Aeldari_ _!_ _Now!_ "

Ricardo's eyes went huge as the woman's hands clapped and a webway portal appeared _inside_ the shield. It was right beside the stasis pod! Even as the Magos retreated and Kay pursued, half a dozen tall, thing forms in white armor ran out of the webway and surrounded Gornal, shimmering xenotech power swords poised and ready. Another Eldar strode from the webway and Ricardo's eyes went even larger as the Eldar raised his hands. Eldritch lightning flashed from the xenos' hands to strike something behind the stasis pod and the shield that had stymied him and Cypher simply vanished. The Eldar which had to be a Warlock, set himself in between Gornal and the stasis pod, his own blade at the ready even as the Banshees surrounding Gornal keened in readiness. He might be able to teleport away before they cut him to pieces. As angry as they seemed? Doubtful.

" _Kay!_ " The newly come Sororitas screamed as Kay lashed out, her blade tearing an appendage from the cowering Magos. "No! Stop!"

"Help me!" The Magos begged. No one paid her any mind. Everyone's eyes were on Kay. No one moved as Kay took another of the Tech-Priest's limbs. No one dared move. No one seemed to be _breathing_ as Kay raised her sword again. But then Ricardo felt something nudge him. A familiar feeling. He stepped forward.

"Lady Kay." Ricardo took several steps and moved to stand just beside the enraged daughter of the Emperor. He was well within her reach and he knew he had no chance against her even if she hadn't been so enraged. It didn't matter. "No one is denying your anger. No one is denying your right to your anger. Georgia is safe." He slowly bent to one knee. "You are not."

"This _thing_ must die." Kay sounded more feral than woman as she growled at the Magos who tried to retreat another step, but fell and huddled on the ground, her visible face terrified. "Insults to me are meaningless. But she hurt so many, she hurt _my_ _daughter_ _!_ "

"Lady Kay." All eyes were on Ricardo as he bowed his head. "I know what you are. Some may deny it. I will not. You are not an abomination. You are the Emperor's creation. His one, _true_ daughter."

" _What?_ " Magos Rebekah and Gornal both shouted that, but everyone else ignored them.

The newly come Sororitas stepped forward as well, her face ashen. She also took a knee beside Ricardo, somewhat in front of Kay.

"Hail, Kay." The Sororitas said formally. "We honor our oaths to the Emperor, our shield and protector just as you always have. You always were the best of us. Now I know why and I am honored to be here, now."

"I..." Kay repeated, her eyes slowly losing some of the terrible golden fire that had shone through them. "I..." She stared at down at the fallen tech-priest and then at her own hands which were still glowing. "What have I _done_?"

She sounded so lost and alone in that moment that even Ricardo's war and death hardened heart went out to her. He felt his eyes burn and from the expressions he could see? He was hardly the only one as the fire that lit Kay's hands winked out.

"You defended yourself and your blood." The newly come female Inquisitor said firmly as she strode forward. She too took a knee. A clatter sounded nearby as Bjorn stepped into view. His hull was marred with xenos blood, but his weapons were not active as he too bent. He could not kneel in his walking tomb, but he showed respect. Cypher knelt beside him. Other forms in Dark Angel colors moved to stand by Cypher and then they too knelt. "I see your mind, Kay and you are worthy of him."

A dozen Elysian drop troopers appeared behind the dreadnought. They stared at the scene, eyes huge. Then they too, knelt. Others approached and _they_ knelt. General Sentars was among them. In moments, the only human standing besides Kay was Gornal, whose face was pasty white.

"All he _ever_ wanted was for humanity to know peace." Kay said weakly as she stared around at all the kneeling people. "That is _all_. He fought for humanity and bled for humanity and it was _never_ enough." She was crying as she stared from bowed head to bowed head. "I cannot be him. I _cannot_."

"No one is asking you to." Ricardo said softly. The unknown newcomer Inquisitor shook her own head as Ricardo had to add. "No one is that stupid."

More than one of the guardsmen who were watching snickered at his words. The Inquisitor at his side frowned at him, but Kay smiled a little forlornly.

"We are human." Kay said sadly. Then she looked at the Dark Angels and at Bjorn. "Well, _most_ of us are." She turned to the Eldar who hadn't moved. "Thank you." She said quietly.

"We owed you a life." The warlock said formally. "The debt is paid."

"I acknowledge that the debt is paid. However, Liriel of Craftworld Ulthwé's soul stone is attached to the Hospitallar." Kay replied just as formally. "I know not how to remove it without causing harm to either."

"We can do so without harming her or your blood." The warlock was still being formal. "We will do so and see her home."

"She has earned all the honor I can give her." Kay said weakly, her rage finally releasing her completely. "I..."

Ricardo was in motion as Kay fell. He caught her and the Sororitas was instantly at his side, armor scanners whirring.

"Kay!" The woman said sternly when Kay started to struggle. "Do not move!"

"Always bossing people, huh, Celestine?" Kay smiled weakly as the pair laid her out straight. Ricardo did not react, but his mind was whirling. Celestine? _Saint_ Celestine? The mighty Sororitas hero who had helped revive Roboute Guilliman? She didn't have wings or a huge sword, but he almost could see the power roiling off her now.

"Only when you do not do what you are told, Kay. I am told medics are coming, hold on sister. And you _will_ listen to them this time." The legendary Sororitas smiled at her stricken sister, but her eyes were worried as she stared at the crossbow bolt that still stuck out of Kay's left arm. "This… I don't know this weapon. Inquisitor?"

For a moment, Ricardo wasn't sure _which_ Inquisitor she was talking to. Then the newcomer rose and stepped forward, her eyes on the bolt as well. Her mouth was set in a grim line as she took hold of it and pulled it free of Kay's armor with a quick yank. Kay did not scream but her face paled. Kay slumped in relief, but the female inquisitor snarled something vile in a language that Ricardo was suddenly glad he did not know. She didn't raise a weapon or make any threatening gesture and it didn't _matter_. _E_ _veryone_ moved out from between her and the now visibly fuming Gornal.

"Where did you get this?" The woman's tone was calm, cold and assured. She was angry. Ricardo _knew_ she was angry, but she was so tightly controlled that it was impossible to tell. A guardsman ran up with Gornal's pistol. He handed it to her and she took it, examining it closely as Gornal sputtered. "Fine craftsmanship, but no maker marks. I am waiting, Lord Inquisitor Gornal. Where did you get this?"

"Whoever you are!" Gornal said savagely. "I bear the authority of the Conclave! You cannot interfere!"

"No?" The woman seemed bored now. "Well, Lord Inquisitor Gornal. Just so we are clear on things, _my_ name is Katarinya Greyfax."

That name. Ricardo felt his bowels loosen a bit. From Gornal's expression, he might have just lost control of his bladder. Just like Celestine, this was a _legend_ come to life. Alongside Celestine, Greyfax had fought on Cadia. Where she had come from before that was vague, but after? She had been instrumental in reviving the Ultramarines Primarch and the events that led him to Terra. She was Ordo Hereticus just like Ricardo, but so much more so. She was a free agent, not bound to any one sector. She went where she willed and she did what she willed and only fools stepped in her way. Her specialty was finding the corrupt and the faithless who pretended to be faithful. She had no mercy, no pity and no patience for some things. If she wanted Gornal dead, he would be before he hit the ground and no one would dare say a _word_.

"Ah..." Gornal actually gibbered. If it hadn't been so serious, with Kay hurt and all, Ricardo would have treasured such a moment.

An Elysian medic ran up and at Celestine's nod, knelt down beside Kay to start checking her wound. Kay looked at the other Sororitas and smiled a little forlornly. She looked to where the Elder were crowded around the stasis pod now and then back at Celestine.

"You move fast." Kay said with a wan smile. She bit her lip as the medic did something to her arm, but then relaxed. "I thought you were on Crusade."

"I was." Celestine shook her head. "I am. But when Greyfax told me about a massive surge in the warp here and your message hit the Sororitas net at the same time..." She smiled as Kay winced from whatever the medic was doing. "Subtle, Kay. _Really_ subtle."

"Bite me, Celestine." Kay said weakly as the medic finished up whatever he was doing. He looked at Kay and his face was grave. "Say nothing." She said under her breath. The medic stiffened and looked at Ricardo and the Saint who nodded.

"What did she do?" Ricardo asked. "Not that I am complaining or anything, but I never expected to see you _or_ Inquisitor Greyfax here."

"We are not." Celestine said sternly. Ricardo stared at her and the Saint shook her head. "There will be no official records of our presence here. One reason I am not in my usual armor."

"I wondered." Kay looked a little better, but not much. "Webway?"

"We needed speed. They offered." Celestine shook her head. "They will demand something for it, but..." She shrugged. "Worth it to see you again, Kay. Even if that bitch Lily is gong to have a heart attack when she sees the message you put on the net."

"I am sorry, Sister." Kay started, but paused when Celestine put a finger to her lips. "Celestine?'

"Kay, you were always a dutiful sister, a good friend and a wonderful comrade in arms." Celestine said sadly. "But now? You are so much more. I will fight for you. _All_ of us will fight for you." Kay was shaking her head, but Celestine wasn't done. "Guilliman couldn't come. He wanted to. When he read your message, he wanted to march right to that convent and 'speak' to Canoness Lily personally."

" _He_ read it?" Kay asked, suddenly shrinking.

"Kay, _everyone_ read it." Celestine said gently. Kay winced and the other Sororitas patted her shoulder. "When I read it, I was overcome with both joy _and_ sorrow. Guiliman asked me why I was crying. I am sworn to aid him and when he ordered me to explain, I did. _Every_ sister who read your message broke down and cried. Not all of them knew you, but we know you now. Not just _us_ either. Guiliman declared a day of thanksgiving throughout the Crusade fleet and I understand the Lords of Terra are contemplating the same."

Kay groaned but she was interrupted.

"Kay!" Georgia's voice had Kay lurching to her feet. She saw Georgia sitting up in the pod which was open. One of the Eldar held the soul stone reverently and was striding towards the webway with it. Celestine offered an arm and Kay glared at her. The Saint shrugged and retracted her arm. Kay staggered towards the pod, utterly ignoring the Magos who lay nearby, not daring to move since _all_ of the Dark Angels had weapons aimed at her.

Greyfax was talking to Gornal who was shaking his head, his face angry. They were enclosed in a hush field so no one would hear whatever they said. But considering Greyfax's reputation, her expression _and_ the fact that she had her hand on her sword hilt? He wouldn't do anything stupid.

"Inquisitor?" Georgia asked as Ricardo moved to stand by Kay who was weaving on her feet. "What? I..." She suddenly realized that she wasn't wearing anything and her face flamed as she covered herself. Celestine shook her head and pulled a long cape from her back to drape it over Georgia who smiled thanks to her. Then the Hospitallar winced. "What happened? We were talking to the Mechanicus."

"They kidnapped you." Ricardo said with a growl. "We have been working to recover you and just managed with a lot of help."

"Why?" Georgia said weakly. "I am no one."

Celestine looked at Kay and then slowly, deliberately turned her back on the group. From the expressions of everyone else? She was glaring at them. They all found things to do, even the Space Marines.

"I..." Kay swallowed hard. "I have to tell you something, Georgia. It is… It will be hard to believe."

"You are my mom." Georgia said softly. Kay stared at her and Georgia's smile became impish. There was a distinct resemblance between their smiles. "I am not stupid, Kay. Why _else_ would you work so hard to muddle my DNA files and yours?"

"The Mechanicus made you from me." Kay said sadly. "They thought you would be able to do what I do. You can't."

"No." Georgia stared around at the mismatched group all around the area and winced. "What else did I miss?" She stared at the Dark Angels who stood by the Space Wolf dreadnought and her eyes went huge. "Um… I heard that those chapters didn't like each other."

"They don't." Ricardo said dryly. "But there _are_ a few things they agree about. Kay is one of those things"

"Oh?" Georgia asked but then everything stopped as a huge detonation sounded in the distance. Celestine was right beside Kay as both moved to shield Georgia from whatever had caused the blast.

"Georgia, I need you to get to safety." Kay turned to Bjorn. "Wolf, can you ward my daughter?"

"Our forces are being pushed back and are in danger of being overwhelmed." Bjorn said quietly. "There may not be a safe place anywhere nearby."

"Yes, there is." Kay said quietly and she turned to the tunnel that had been excavated in the near distance. She shook her head as the ground...folded? A huge hatch was sinking into the ground. "Underground you will all be safe. Georgia, do you trust me?" Kay begged.

"I do, but… What is down there?" Georgia asked with trepidation as the square patch of earth sank deeper and deeper. A small lift appeared in the hole, rising to wait at the edge. Small was relative. It would have held a _Baneblade_ easily. Kay took her daughter in her arms and held her tight.

"My destiny."


	18. Chapter 18

**Amor  
**

Ricardo could see how worried Georgia was about Kay. Kay was walking fine, but her face was strained. The first few steps to the elevator had been hard on Kay, but she had flatly refused any help at all, even when Celestine had muttered something in High Gothic about 'silly and stupid'.

It was a very odd procession. Bjorn led the way, his searchlight sweeping from side to side in the dark man made cavern that the elevator had dropped them into. Hulking forms lined the walls and Ricardo had assumed Kay would go to one of those. Each was a superheavy tank, at least a half dozen of them that he could see. There were probably more. If this was a standard Imperial hangar, it would have smaller vehicles arrayed behind the largest. He had picked out a Baneblade and a Shadowsword but the others he did not know. His team had caught up and they surrounded him, wary of all of the others and doubly wary of the Dark Angels or whatever the beings who followed Cypher were. Lisa was almost in heaven as she stared from one ancient Imperial weapon of war to the next, but she held her tongue.

Kay strode by the tanks without a word and everyone else just followed. The Dark Angels had hauled Magos Rebekah to her feet, bound her and now prodded her along at gunpoint, ignoring her cries and pleas. Georgia walked beside Kay, clad in an ill-fitting Elysian jumpsuit that one of the troops had provided for her. The boots really didn't fit, but she ignored that. Her eyes rarely left Kay. The Elysians remained in their perimeter. General Sentars had detailed a squad to accompany them, more as a guard of honor than needed with such raw power arrayed around Kay. An Elysian medic accompanied them whose eyes also never left Kay.

Celestine walked beside Greyfax whose sword was in hand. Gornal was right beside her and his face was a study. Rage mixed with shock and more than a bit of fear. Ricardo fought hard to ignore his erstwhile superior. It was highly unlikely that Gornal would survive this, but then again, the man was a snake and had shown considerable survival skill in the past when thwarted.

The Dark Angels were a silent green tide that surrounded the bound Magos even as she too stared from side to side in utter shock. They had not been gentle in searching and binding her. Kay had left her with no upper limbs, but that did not make her safe to be around. Something told Ricardo that the Dark Angels would hold her or die trying.

Ricardo's thoughts came to a sudden stop as Kay fell to one knee. Georgia was at her side in an instant, the Elysian medic mere seconds behind her.

"Kay?" Georgia begged as the medic scanned Kay, his face frozen. "Mom?" The word fell oddly from Georgia's lips but Kay smiled at her as she struggled to her feet.

"Lady..." The medic said softly. Kay glared at him and he bowed his head.

"I know." Kay said firmly. "But I have to do this. I have time." He did something to her arm where she had been wounded and she gasped, but did not react otherwise. Georgia stared at the bandaged wound and then she blanched.

"The bolt." Inquisitor Illusmar felt a sudden rage slam through him and he spun to glare at Gornal. "What the _hell_ did you do?"

"She has time." Greyfax said quietly enough that Ricardo stared at her. The woman was ice and stone. Ricardo's rage faded when she shook her head. "Not a lot."

"Mom?" Georgia begged, hugging Kay tight as the medic did something more to Kay's arm.

"I know this feeling very, very well, Georgia." Kay sighed and rubbed Georgia's shaven skull. "I am dying again. The bolt he hit me with was poisoned." Georgia gasped and Gornal spoke.

"It was to disable-" He broke off with a gasp as Celestine slugged him.

"Shut up, you fool or I will brand you heretic." Celestine's tone could have shattered rock. Not being a complete moron, Gornal shut up. "Whatever the hell you _thought_ you were doing, you _assaulted_ the Emperor's _daughter_. There is only _one_ punishment for such. Greyfax wants it public and messy to serve as an example. Me? I just want you _dead_ for your insults to the Emperor." Greyfax looked at her and Celestine shrugged. " _Every_ Sororitas is going to feel the same. Even that dumb political wench Lily."

Kay chuckled a little, and then moved to rise. The medic stared at her, eyes bleak, but then he held out a hand that she took. Georgia took Kay's other hand and both helped her to her feet.

"I thought you were taking a tank." Georgia said as she steadied her mom. The medic retreated a step, his hands on his healing gear.

"So did I." Kay admitted. "Until the countersign was given, a part of my memory was locked." She glared at the dreadnought who ignored her. "I know why I was made and I know why I slept. Georgia, you will see and hear things you will never be able to speak of again in here. Can you do that?"

"I must." Georgia said sadly. "Karne and the others believed in me even when my own faith was lacking." She had cried for a good minute when Ricardo and Kay had explained about the other sisters. Celestine had been a rock throughout that.

"The Emperor never wanted to be considered a god, Georgia." Kay said gently. "He wanted people to find their own way. He wouldn't mind them finding solace in his light, but he wanted them to do things for themselves. Our faith is not false, Georgia. It never was. He wouldn't consider himself a god, but I sort of do. He is my father. Like any father, he is a source of both hope _and_ discipline. He _made_ me, Georgia. How can I not revere him?"

"Will he talk to _me_?" Georgia pleaded.

"I don't know." Kay hugged her daughter gently. "He is incredibly busy, especially now. But he knows you and loves you. He knows you through me. So how can he not love you?" Georgia stared at her mom, eyes wide and Kay smiled. "You better mind you new boss, okay? Protect the Imperium, do your best. That is all he ever asked of me. Others..." She looked at Bjorn and the Dark Angels. "He tried to make the tasks suit the ones he detailed them too. But some tasks are not possible."

"The battle does not go well." Bjorn said firmly. "If the traitor reaches the depot, those Imperial Guard on the surface have no chance."

"Yes." Kay said softly. Then she straightened and her voice became stronger. "Inquisition! Attend!" Ricardo and Greyfax both stiffened and nodded. Gornal scowled at her, but subsided when Celestine raised her fist again. "The armor that is in here is to be delegated to the armories of the Space Marine chapters or guard regiments who need it the most. There are two Glaives, two Fellblades, two Baneblades and two Shadowswords as well as numerous smaller vehicles, most suited to the Astra Militarum but a number of others that you will find useful. I hereby delegate the Inquisitor Ricardo Illusmar to be the designated contact person for such. _He_ will speak with _my_ voice for the purpose of distributing these assets."

Ricardo staggered as his armor was suddenly deluged with information. Even with his training and implants, he couldn't keep up with it. Then he jerked as his armor saw _everything_ in the bay. And beyond. This facility was _huge_. Far larger than anyone had guessed. It had tanks, APCs, aircraft and… One area was blacked out of his sensors. A _large_ area.

"Lady… I..." Ricardo stammered, utterly undone by her command. Her gift. "I am unworthy." Greyfax looked at him, but did not comment.

"I am giving you a very hard job." Kay said with a nod. "Many will demand access. For many reasons. But _you_ will have control of the defenses. You are a good man and you will serve the Imperium well."

"I..." Ricardo slowly knelt and bowed his head. "What do I say?"

"Say 'Yes', you fool!" Gornal snapped, only to double over as Celestine slugged him again, this time in the gut.

"Understand this, Inquisitor Illusmar." Kay said firmly. "These vehicles were built and hidden here at the Emperor's orders. They are all relics and many will fight to steal them. They are better built and better maintained even now after so long entombed than many others across the Imperium. There _will_ be wars fought over these. You must be ready. The Imperium needs these relics in action now more than ever."

"No!" Magos Rebekah pleaded from where she stood. She took a step, but _three_ Dark Angels grabbed hold of her and she was going _nowhere_. "You cannot! These relics are irreplaceable!"

"These relics are the _Emperor's!_ " Kay interrupted her savagely. "Not _yours!_ " She shook her head and her tone moderated. "I speak for him here and now. Such tools are meant to be _used_. Not hoarded in hidden places by fools who cannot even figure out how to turn a _wrench_ without muttering prayers to your 'god'." The derision in her tone could have cut steel.

"You cannot..." The Magos was shaken, her voice breaking. "You _must_ not..."

"I am going to give you something wonderful, Magos. Something _besides_ the death that you have so earned." Kay said softly. "The pain you gave me, the pain you gave others. The horror you would have visited on my daughter… These _demand_ your death, but I am going to show you something that you will take to your pyre. You will never be able to speak of what you are about to see." She paused and hugged Georgia again. "No matter what happens, I love you Georgia."

Georgia was at a loss for words as Kay strode quickly to where Bjorn stood near one wall. She tapped the wall and a console appeared on it, swinging out of a hidden alcove.

"Code: Filae." [Daughter] Kay said to the console and it beeped. "Countersign: Dilectae." [Beloved]

Everyone, even Bjorn, took a step back as the _at least_ one hundred meter tall wall slowly creaked and then opened. It wasn't a wall! It was a _door_! Then a voice sounded. A gasp came from many as Bjorn bowed to the voice. Cypher and his men all knelt, two of them still holding the Magos!

"I both hoped for and feared this moment, Daughter." The voice was far more than any human could have even managed. Kay was crying as she stepped into the dark space beyond the now open door. "I wanted you to be a beacon of hope, of peace and joy. Instead, I bequeath to you a galaxy in ruins. Mine own hubris brought this folly upon us. Mine own son destroyed everything I had worked for."

Ricardo gasped he realized who was speaking. _The Emperor!_ Some kind of recording! He fought past his shock as the recording continued.

"I know not what will become of you, Kay." The Emperor from so long ago said heavily. "But know this, you are my daughter in every way. You are everything I hoped for and then some. I hope you can do better than I did. I can hope you find love and the fighting will eventually end. I fear for you and all of my children. Humanity, the Astartes, so many others who looked to me for guidance and protection who I failed. You were my greatest experiment and my most colossal failure. I lost you and could not reclaim you before my errant son drove me back to Terra. I am sorry, Kay."

"It was not your fault, Father." Kay was crying as she staggered forward. Ricardo was hardly the only one to cry out in shock as huge lights suddenly glared into being and showed what Kay was staggering towards. Magos Rebekah was crying now. The Inquisitor's armor sensors were pinging for his attention, showing data from hidden sensors all over the area. He gasped in shock again as he saw the full mass of what Kay was walking towards and recognized it for what it was.

"No, no, no, no, no..." The Magos had also recognized it. "No! It cannot be! It _cannot_ be." No one paid her any mind as Kay weaved towards a ramp that was lowering from the rear of the machine. She fell to one knee and Georgia started forward, only to hiss as Ricardo caught hold of her arm.

"She needs help!" Georgia pleaded.

"She needs to do this _herself_." Celestine said sadly as she took hold of Georgia's other arm. Kay rose to her feet and turned to smile at the group before vanishing into the darkness of the machine. The ramp closed up and Georgia stared at it for moment before crumpling. Celestine caught the now crying girl in a hug and held her gently as the Hospitallar sobbed.

"She must not!" Magos Rebekah screamed and tried to rise. "She _cannot_! The rites must be done properly and that-" She broke off as Cypher hit her and threw her back to the ground where the two Dark Angels gripping her held her immobile again. "She will _destroy_ it!"

"Better that you cogs do it?" Cypher asked in a tone that promised pain. "You Mechanicus have underestimated her at every turn. I only hope that the Inquisition turns you over to the Chapter. You will live a long, _long_ time in that case in the care of the Interrogator-Chaplains as they wring every _ounce_ of data out of your filthy head."

Ricardo fought a wince. Not a nice fate in any way, but it was either that or the Inquisition's interrogators and Ricardo didn't know if he trusted any of _them_ with such a secret. Especially now with Gornal scowling at him.

"We just might." Greyfax said with a nod. "If _any_ can keep the secret of what they did to her, you Dark Angels can." She knew who and what Cypher was. She had been there with Guilliman, so why wasn't she bothered by him or trying to execute him? Illusmar decided he really didn't want to know. Greyfax continued. "If the truth gets out, there will be hell to pay."

"There is enough chaos already across the Imperium." Ricardo found himself saying. "She must pay for what she did, but the truth must never be known to any but those here."

He started as loud hum was heard building from the machine and then music sounded from nearby. It wasn't any tune Ricardo had ever heard before. Why was his display scrolling the words 'Main theme from Patton'? What did _that_ mean?

"That is _impossible_." Magos Rebekah was sobbing. "It _cannot_ be powering up! It _cannot!_ Such things take _dozens_ of priests and the activation rites must be performed _exactly_. They take _days!_ This cannot be happening!" She crumpled, keening. The Dark Angels dropped her and then held her down, not that she seemed capable of resisting at the moment.

"What is it?" Georgia took a step forward and shook her head, confused. The view from the back wasn't clear.

"Your mother's vehicle." Celestine moved to stand by Georgia's side, her face proud. "I had no idea, but this… _This_ is worthy of her."

Ricardo nodded to the Sororitas as the machine ahead of them moved. There were no treads, no visible means of locomotion. It just moved. Then a thunderous 'clang' sounded, followed by another. And another. Steps. Georgia's eyes went huge as a slit appeared in the darkness far ahead.

"What?" Georgia begged, but Celestine laid a hand on her shoulder and gave a squeeze. She pulled Georgia close as the doors ahead of whatever was moving opened further and further, rocks the sizes of Imperial Guard Leman Russ tanks falling from the dirt to clang off metal and roll away. The massive walking thing ignored them as inconsequential.

"Sing with me, sister." Celestine started a hymn of praise to the Emperor and Georgia joined in, almost automatically. The music _worked_ with the hymn they were singing.

Then it changed as the vehicle, no, the _Titan_ , reached the end of the hall and exited the bay. Ricardo's readout said 'Main theme from Star Wars?' Who the hell came up with this stuff? It turned and everyone saw the profile. Everyone's breath caught.

The Warlord Class Titan was _glorious_. It looked new, shiny even. The dying light of the day shone golden brilliance off massive weapon mounts and holy insignia that would not have been amiss on any Sororitas vehicle. One arm was a massive cannon, the other a huge fist with some kind of cannon inside. Racks of missiles that looked larger than anything the Imperial Guard could boast hung over each shoulder. And, impossibly, another weapon hung over the main hull. That wasn't right, was it? Ricardo was no expert on Titans, but he had seen picto records of them. Warlord Titans had two arm mounted weapons and two shoulder mounted weapons. So what was the other long barreled thing doing there?

"This is _impossible_!" Magos Rebekah was shaking hard and seemed to be in a great deal of distress. Not that anyone cared. "Omnissiah save us from this _abomination_!"

"Someone shut the cog up!" Greyfax snapped. Her patience was finally gone.

Ricardo was first to act. He stepped forward, grabbed the Magos' sputtering vocabulator in a firm grip, put his bolt pistol to the mass that let her speak and pulled the trigger. The resulting spray of components and pieces of housing heralded a mass of static and then silence as he dropped the Magos to lie still. The Dark Angels were taking no chances, two held her down even as the others aimed at her.

"Thank you." Greyfax was eyeing the Titan and then she slowly shook her head. "Non-standard configuration. A mix of anti-armor, anti-titan and that weapon on top looks like a conversion beamer. Odd armaments."

"And the _rest_ of this _isn't_ odd?" Georgia asked in a subdued voice. She quailed as Greyfax looked at her. But then, the indomitable and very scary female Inquisitor _smiled_ at Georgia.

"Yes, it is odd, child." Greyfax stepped up to Georgia and took her jaw in oddly gentle fingers. Georgia did not bother resisting as the Inquisitor looked deep into her eyes. "You are a very brave girl and unless I am very much mistaken, you will be a very brave woman. A credit to the Sororitas as your mother was and is. Your faith in the Emperor and your mother is strong. I find no taint in you. That is refreshing."

"Thank you, Inquisitor Greyfax." Georgia said meekly as Greyfax released her and all of them turned to look at the Titan which was moving away now. Everyone jerked as the doors started closing! "What?"

"Your mother wants you protected from what is about to happen." Bjorn said quietly for a dreadnought. "It will likely be impressive."

"Will we know what is happening?" Georgia begged. "Or will we just wait?"

"We will know." Ricardo stepped up to her and took her right hand in his left as Celestine took the other. He nodded to the wall as a screen responded to his armor's commands and came alive on it. It showed a map of the surrounding area. On the map, a huge red icon marked 'Facta Impia' was moving towards several gray wolf heads. Other wolf heads were marked black or red for damaged or destroyed. A golden icon was moving to intercept the red one.

The golden icon was marked 'Filae Gloriosa.' [Glorious Daughter]

* * *

 **A couple of people asked about the music. Never let it be said that the Emperor didn't have a very odd sense of humor at times. Kay shares that trait.  
**


	19. Chapter 19

**Epic**

No one moved from the map. Everyone was staring at the screen as others came alive around it, showing scenes of devastation projected from hidden sensors scattered across the landscape. The open plains terrain had seen heavy fighting. Two utterly wrecked Chaos Warhound Titans lay strewn across the landscape, but all was not well. Space Wolves vehicles burned in numerous places as a huge blue _thing_ heaved itself over the horizon. It had two arms, two legs and a massive cathedral like structure bristling with guns and missiles on top of it. The huge building that crowned it was a horror, all twisting, churning masses of energy and flesh all directed to the glory of the Dark Gods of Chaos in general and the Lord of Change in particular.

The Traitor Imperator class Titan 'Facta Impia' was walking forward through a hellstorm of fire that was coming from all sides. It strode on as if all of the massive blasts around it and _on_ it were inconsequential. Perhaps they were. Anyone listening to vox channels could hear insane cackling across them as Space Wolves vehicles died along with the mighty warriors of the Imperium manning them. A brave or foolish crew of a Space Wolves Predator Annihilator stopped in mid-movement to fired every lascannon it possessed. Each one of the incredibly powerful anti-armor weapons scored a direct hit on the left knee of the massive walking fortress and did _nothing_. Each and every bolt was absorbed by the evil machine's insanely powerful void shields.

"Silly Space Corgis!" The cackling voice declared even as sun hot fury tore from its left arm weapon to slam into the luckless tank. None of the crew of that tank even had time to scream before they were turned to ash along with their tank. "Is there no one on this entire Tzeentch forsaken planet who is a worthy foe?"

The response to his challenge was the explosion of a Vortex missile that blew down three of the void shields around his mighty war machine's carapace. The Titan's weapon turrets spun, but there was no enemy visible except the Space Wolves who were retreating in order. _They_ hadn't fired such a weapon. If they had them, they would have used them before they had lost three Land Raiders to the Facta Impia's long range fire. Another missile hit and this time, _all_ of the fields collapsed. But then they reformed, driven by the unholy powers that the Chaos Lord summoned as well as the mighty reactors buried deep inside the ancient war machine. Even Imperator class Titans were not immune to such raw destructive power, but the being commanding this horrific thing was no novice and he had come prepared for a fight.

"Who dares?" The Chaos Lord who commanded the monstrosity demanded over the common vox channels even as the machine's many weapons sought targets. "Show yourself!"

"Why?" The female voice who replied was calm, cool and collected. It was also mocking. "Is the big, bad Chaos Lord suddenly afraid?"

"I know that voice..." The commander of the Facta Impia said with glee. "Ooo, _Kay!_ The woman of the hour herself. Have you finally come to your senses and come back to serve Tzeentch as is your destiny?"

"No." The other replied coldly. "I have come to show _you_ what happens to people who betray the Emperor."

 _Four_ missiles slammed out of the forest nearby. Two of them met point defense fire and exploded short of the Titan. The other two hit, and one exploded with all the fury of the Imperium's wrath. It collapsed two of the Void shields. The other hit and _did not detonate!_ It fell to land at the Titan's feet. The Facta Impia took a step and crushed the missile under a metal hoof the size of a building.

"Tzeentch has all kinds of tricks, even more than your Corpse Emperor." The traitor in command of the massive blue thing chuckled. "Hiding in trees like an Eldar, are you? Hmmm. I think I should do something about that."

"Feel free. You won't hit anything but trees." Kay's voice held scorn as the massive Imperator Titan opened fire with both of its massive arm weapons on the forest and indeed, hit nothing but trees with the humongous bolt rounds and plasma bursts. "Sons of Russ, fall back. This is my fight."

"Oh, come on!" Rashinos' horror obliterated another Predator almost negligently. The others increased speed, some dropping smoke to try and confused the Titan's targeting. "Let the Corgis gum themselves to death on my ankles. _We_ can catch up on old times." Lust sang in his tone and several of the listeners grimaced.

"You always _did_ have a one track mind even when it was proven that you couldn't keep it up long enough to do what you wished. The Warp _giveth_ and the Warp taketh _away_." The laugh that Kay sent his way was almost as deadly as a missile. Rashinos growled as the listeners stared at one another.

"What did he do to her?" Georgia begged as Celestine held her gently.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Celestine asked quietly. Georgia nodded, her face set. The Saint held out a dataslate to Georgia who took it in shaking hands. Celestine hugged Georgia as the Hospitallar read the contents, her face paling as she perused it.

"Mom." Georgia croaked, her eyes streaming again. She bowed her head. "Oh Mom." Her face took on a hard aspect as she turned it back to the screen. "She will kill him."

It was suddenly easy to see the family resemblance. She didn't have Kay's experience or power, but she _had_ inherited the much older woman's temper. Good thing she wasn't nearly as dangerous as Kay had proven to be.

"She will certainly do her best to and Kay's best is pretty damn good." Celestine said with a nod to the screen. Rashinos was apparently getting tired of not hitting anything and had started for the depot again.

"Where is she?" Georgia asked. "I don't see her on the screen." Indeed, the golden icon of Kay's Titan was not showing anywhere.

"He is probably saying the exact same thing." Ricardo frowned. "She likely cannot win head to head with an Imperator class, so she won't _try_. She is anything but stupid. Vortex missiles may be able to bring that monstrosity's shields down, but her other weapons require line of sight and if she shows herself, his own weapons are larger and more numerous."

"What about the large weapon on top?" Cypher asked. More than one of the others shrugged. No one knew.

"My concern is what the esteemed Lord Inquisitor shot her with." Greyfax said into the silence that fell. The screen showed the Space Wolves regrouping a bit closer to the depot, with heavy terrain between them and Rashinos' monstrosity. The female Inquisitor was glaring at Gornal who met her gaze with matching fury. He did not speak, however. He had learned that provoking Celestine got painful and no one was about to try and stop the Sororitas. Greyfax looked at the Elysian medic who bowed his head. "How long do you think?"

"She _should_ have died the moment it hit her. The only thing that saved her was the distance from her heart and her own physical strength." The medic said sadly. Georgia gasped and he shook his head. "I am sorry, Inquisitor, Hospitallar. I wish I could have done more."

"Not your fault, Medic. I doubt even a full on Apothecarium could have done much more for her." Greyfax admitted. "There are not many places that even _know_ about Fulgurite. For good reason."

"'Fulgurite'?" Georgia asked, confused. "Or is that something I shouldn't know about?"

"It _is_ a secret." Greyfax said heavily. "But one that is less kept than obscure. Few know about it." Georgia looked at her and the Inquisitor grimaced. "For good reason. The substance is the only one that is known to be fatal to Perpetuals." Georgia gasped and Celestine laid her arm around the trembling Hospitallar. "Some believe it was originally intended as an assassination weapon against the Emperor. Small wonder it worked on Kay."

"So how did _he_ get it?" Georgia demanded, snarling at Gornal who snarled back.

"You are not cleared for..." The Lord Inquisitor drew himself up haughtily, only to collapse with a wheeze as Greyfax hit him in the gut with the butt of her bolter.

"Shut. Up." The female Inquisitor's words were quiet, calm and collected. Her bolter/crossbow was in hand however and aimed. "Your life is Kay's. Not mine. If you push however, I _will_ submit to her judgment for removing your stain from existence _gladly_. The _only_ reason you still breathe is that I know you thought it would only stun her. You didn't _bother_ to even _look_ at the reams of records in the file attached to that storage unit. Carelessness in addition to attempted regicide." Gornal seemed to wilt and Greyfax relaxed a little, looking at Georgia. "As a Lord Inquisitor, he had access to most of the Inquisition armory. Even things he had no business touching."

"And if he has killed my mom?" Georgia asked softly.

"Then his execution will take a _very_ long time to complete." Greyfax promised. "Roboute Guilliman and the Lords of Terra will _not_ be pleased with him regardless, but that?" She smiled grimly. "That is something they will _all_ agree on."

All eyes went back to the screens as the scene on the them changed. Aircraft were now buzzing around the Titan. Oddly shaped angular aircraft. Explosions were all over it and its weapons spit defiance at the gnats swarming it. Two of them exploded in mid-air, but the others continued to harass it.

"Chaos fighters and bombers." Ricardo turned as Lisa spoke softly, incredulous. His pilot was staring at the screens, awe and fear warring in her expression. "Attacking the _Titan_?"

"They don't like Rashinos any more than anyone _else_ does." Cypher was a grim green statue, staring at the screen. "He has repeatedly killed Chaos forces who got in his way or just for his own sick amusement. Not to mention, if any of _them_ were to capture Kay, or even recover her _body_ , they could literally demand _anything_ from the Ruinous Powers with a good chance of it being granted."

"Because she is the Emperor's daughter." Georgia wilted further and Celestine crooned softly to her.

"Don't count Kay out just yet." Greyfax smiled as humongous explosions flew across the Imperator Titan's bulk. At least _six_ missiles had slammed into it from two different sides. None were Vortex warheads but they had to hurt regardless. Burning plasma now covered a portion of the massive titan which strode on as if utterly oblivious to the fire that coated its hull. The void shields did not come back up. Perhaps overloaded or something else.

"How is she doing that?" Ricardo asked, confused. "That Titan only had two missile launchers."

"Emperor only knows." Lisa was focused on a nearby screen and her eyes went huge as she pointed to it. "Oh! This is a long range guidance package. She is using hidden sensors to guide missiles onto target. I have heard of such tech, but never dreamed of seeing it. She could be _anywhere_ in missile range of that thing." Then the sergeant smiled as she read the bottom of the screen. "She is using the _facility's_ defenses as well. That explains so many missiles."

"I..." Ricardo shook his head as he pulled up what information he could on the facility. "This is not just a depot. This is a planetary defense center!" He shook his head. "Most of the weapons read as offline, but from the readouts, they look repairable. This defense point could swing this _whole planetary campaign_ the Imperium's way if we can get it back online!"

"Is there anything that could help Mom?" Georgia begged.

"No." Ricardo said after a moment of perusal. "She is using the missiles. Everything else is far too large, disabled or limited by line of sight."

Georgia slumped but then she straightened and focused on the screen. Celestine nodded approval. The vox crackled again.

"And how many missiles do you have, dear sweet Kay?" Rashinos asked. More than one of the watchers groaned as the fires on the Facta Impia went out and shimmering heralded its Void shields coming back online yet again. "Come on, my dear. It wasn't bad. You know it wasn't."

"You keep telling yourself that." Kay growled. "Right up until I blow your scaly hide out of that abomination."

"Kay..." Rashinos actually _sighed!_ "I _didn't_ hurt you. You hurt _yourself_. We were not going to hurt you. You know this."

"Again, you keep telling yourself that." Four more missiles swung out of the blazing forest and slammed into the massive Traitor machine. "I said it before and I will say it again. I will never serve you."

"So be it." Rashinos actually sounded sad! "I give you my word, I will try not to hurt you too badly. Tzeentch wants you and I want to please Tzeentch. If you won't serve, your progeny _will_."

Everyone watching gasped as dozens, nay, _hundreds_ of small pink and blue forms started shooting out of the massive building on top of the Traitor Titan. They swarmed here and there, flying in small groups of perhaps fifty. There were _dozens_ of such groups.

"Flamers..." Celestine breathed. "Can she hide from so many?"

"They are not going for _her_." Georgia swallowed hard as she saw most of the swarms take off in a beeline for the depot on the surface. Terror sang in her voice. "They are after _me_." Celestine and Ricardo moved to flank her as her face fell. "Will they _always_ be after me?"

"I don't know." Celestine admitted. "The Mechanicus failed in making an exact copy of Kay, but the Ruinous Powers don't know that. We will ward you." She promised.

"Wait..." Ricardo breathed as something changed on the screen. Where before, the Traitor Titan had been approaching alone, now _five_ Titans shone on the screen. The massive red enemy one and _four_ smaller golden ones. All four were moving at flank speed towards the Facta Impia. "Decoys! Some kind of decoys!"

"Ooo." Rashinos said with glee. "Pretty toy you have there. You _are_ a sneaky one, Kay. You will make an _excellent_ mate once your mind has been cleansed of that silly notion of self determination and I can repair what you did to yourself to spite Tzeentch. Really? Neutering yourself was pointless. Now… _Which_ one of you is real?" The dorsal weapons of the Titan fired and massive plasma balls tore through the lower half of a golden form that vanished in the haze of discharge. "Eeny..." Another dorsal weapon fired even as the remaining golden Warlord Titans started to run to close the distance. The humongous bolt rounds tore through another hologram, wiping it from existence. "Meeny..." An arm mounted volcano cannon fired, blowing another hologram away. "Miny..." The left arm weapon fired low and... _Another_ hologram vanished? "What?"

" _MO!_ " Kay screamed as her Titan appeared out of some kind of cloak right _behind_ the Facta Impia. Everyone watching cheered as her Titan's power fist slammed full on into the rear armor of the Traitor Titan.

"You! Bitch!" Rashinos wasn't gloating anymore as his Titan rocked from the stupendous impact. "You are going to _pay_ for that! I will make you clean that damage off with your _tongue!_ "

"You will _try!_ " Kay retorted even as the swarms that had been pressing towards the depot reversed course.

The Facta Impia tried to turn, but Kay's Warlord was much more agile than the larger Traitor Titan and stayed behind it, swinging its fist again and doing a lot more than denting the armor. Each impact was followed by a blast. Each power field enhanced blow was augmented by a flurry of shots from the integral mega bolter and even the traitor's massive armor wouldn't be able to take that for long. Imperator class Titans were meant for long range combat and had both incredible durability as well as incredible firepower, but up close? They were vulnerable. Of course, everything was relative. Even Kay's titanic blows were not doing much more than armor damage. Admittedly, her first blow had been carefully aimed to take out the void shield generators. Given time, she would break through even the monstrosity's huge amount of armor. _If_ she was given that time.

"You stupid cow." Rashinos snarled as all of the swarms of daemons swooped around the Facta Impia to target the golden Titan. "All you do is _prolong_ the pain. That is all any of you fools who worship the Corpse do!"

The Filae Gloriosa's void shields were flaring as more and more of the flamers released their Warp spawned evil onto it. The Warlord Titan's point defense weapons fired again and again, each flurry of shots claiming dozens of the pink and blue things, but _more_ were coming out of the Imperator Titan's superstructure and each added its flames to the evil power beleaguering Kay's Titan.

"You will serve us. In life or death, you _will_ serve Chaos!" Rashinos was not gloating now. He was coldly furious as the fist of Kay's Titan slammed into his Titan's armor again and the gun roared again. Then her other arm weapon fired. This time, even warp forged, demon hardened plate finally fractured under Kay's frenzied assaults.

" _What? No!_ " Rashinos screamed as the long weapon atop Kay's Titan bent down towards the fracture even as her fields collapsed under the demon fire. " _STOP HER!_ "

White hot energy scoured across the entirely of the golden Titan. Too late. A female scream of agony had everyone who heard it gasping, but then, the great gun atop Kay's Titan fired at literally point blank range.

It wasn't a conversion beamer. The proper term was 'mega psycannon'. The shells that had been loaded into the magazine of the massive weapon had been specially forged for dealing with the denizens of the Warp by the Emperor himself. The Emperor had _always_ planned on using Kay and any sisters he made for her as anti-daemon weapons to augment the Astartes. Their love for each other and him would have made them nearly impervious to corruption. He had been interrupted by Horus, so had never made more of Kay. She had always been designed for one thing and one thing only. To kill hellspawn. Even as her flesh burned, she did just that. Like _most_ bolt weapons, it did not fire _one_ shot at a time. Instead, _three_ rounds, each larger than any shell in Imperial Guard armories, tore into the weakened rear armor of the Facta Impia. The first two tore the armor to splinters and flew on, tearing control runs, magazines, barracks for minions and chapels dedicated to Chaos into shreds. The third, guided by Kay or maybe the Emperor himself, tore directly into the main reactor that was housed in the heart of the demonic machine.

The results of the blessed round striking the daemon enhanced reactor were completely predictable.

Even underground, kilometers away from the clash of leviathans, the ground shook under the stunned watchers. They stared at screens that went dark, momentarily blinded by the titanic outpouring of energy. When the scanners came back online, they showed a massive crater with two equally massive blue legs sticking up out of it. Both were on _fire_. Nothing else remained of the horror or its warp spawned daemon horde.

"Mom?" Georgia pleaded as the scanners swept around. "Where is mom?" Then she screamed as the scanners panned onto something golden. The Filae Gloriosa lay on its back, the golden Titan's entire front blackened from the blast but it was mostly intact. All except the pilot's compartment, which was scorched wreckage, melted and blasted from both demon fire _and_ the titanic explosion that had claimed Kay's arch enemy. Nothing could have survived that. Not even Kay. " _MOM!_ "

" _No_. No, Kay… Not _now!_ " Celestine took hold of Georgia as the Hospitallar crumpled. She too was crying. "Not after all of this!"

"She will come back." Georgia said in a weak voice, looking up at the Living Saint. But her eyes... The hurt in her eyes was heartbreaking. "She _has_ to come back! Right?"

"Georgia..." Ricardo bowed his head. "The poison..."

No one was shocked when Georgia threw herself at Lord Inquisitor Gornal.

 _Everyone_ was shocked when it took _everyone_ to pull the non-militant sister back from killing the man with her bare hands.


	20. Chapter 20

**Inquisition games**

Ricardo sat and watched Georgia sleep.

It had been a tumultuous day. Greyfax and Celestine had vanished as soon as other Imperial forces had approached the depot. Cypher had waited until he was sure Magos Rebekah was in proper custody before he too vanished. The Space Wolves who had survived the battle had been less than enthused with acting as prison guards for a cog, but a growl from Bjorn had ensured their compliance. They had suffered grievous losses against the massive traitor Titan, but they had claimed victory with Kay's help. Their surviving vehicles even now surrounded the wreck of the Filea Gloriosa and only a fool or someone with a death wish would dare _that_ blockade.

It had taken both Celestine and Greyfax working in concert with Ricardo to calm Georgia down enough for the sedative that the Elyisan medic slipped her to take effect. She _really_ wanted Lord Inquisitor Gornal dead and Ricardo couldn't blame her. To have such a bright light in hand and then to lose it in such an ignoble way…

Greyfax had confirmed that Gornal wasn't actually a traitor. He had been fooled by the Mechanicus. According to her, and Ricardo wasn't about to call her a liar, Gornal was just as shocked by what had happened as everyone else was. Part of Ricardo still burned to put a bolt round through Gornal's head. He might be able to do that, but the Inquisition frowned on subordinates causally murdering their superiors. If there was cause, that was one thing. If Gornal had actually been a traitor, Ricardo would have been well within his rights to do just that or just let Georgia strangle the man as she so wanted to. She wasn't as strong as her mom, thank the Emperor, but she had been determined and she was _fast_. Even Cypher's men hadn't been able to hold her, especially since no one really wanted to hurt her.

"Sir." Mace's voice pulled Ricardo out of his rumination. He looked up to see Mace standing there. Lornan was working at deciphering a console at a datacenter nearby and Lisa was off with the Elysians, checking the various vehicles in the hangar. "Message from the ship. We have company coming." Ricardo looked at Mace and the guardian frowned. "Are we going back to the ship, sir?"

"Eventually, Mace." Ricardo promised. "We still have a lot of work to do. The Inquisition's work is never done."

"No, sir." Mace agreed. He looked at Georgia. "And her?"

"Her choice, Mace." Ricardo said flatly. "Not mine. If she wants to go back to the sisters, I won't try and stop her. They would object." Mace made a face and Ricardo nodded with a small shiver. The few communications he had received from the various Sororitas Orders had been short and to the point. If _anything_ further happened to Georgia, he was a _dead man_.

He looked around the small room he had carried Georgia into when she had finally fallen asleep and shook his head. The planetary defense center he sat in would shift this entire campaign. The Elysians had provided a bedroll for her. General Sentar's troops were incredibly happy with the new lodgings that Ricardo had provided for them. They wouldn't be able to stay for too long, they were needed far too many places for that, but a solid roof over their heads and clean water to drink were both rare luxuries to the hardened paratroopers. A solid defense point with many types of vehicles that no one had seen in millennia, really cool weapons and literal _mountains_ of ammunition? Heaven.

He stiffened a bit as Georgia muttered in her sleep, but she did not wake. No one was surprised that her dreams had been troubled and Lisa had wanted to sit with her. The hardened master sergeant's heart melted around the broken Hospitallar and she had asked Ricardo if she could stay with the girl. Ricardo had been forced to refuse. He needed Lisa working. She understood, boy did she ever, but it had hard for both of them.

This whole mess had been hard for everyone.

"Who is coming?" Ricardo asked when Georgia subsided again. The medic had promised she would sleep for several hours, but who knew what odd quirks Kay had passed on to her daughter?

" _He_ is." Mace said sourly. Ricardo grimaced, but then nodded. If Gornal was anything, he was both opportunistic and survival oriented. Without Greyfax and Celestine around to keep him in line, he had immediately reverted to type. He had ordered Georgia's arrest for attempted murder of himself. Ricardo had ignored him. He wasn't _about_ to cross the Sisters again.

"Is he now?" Ricardo looked at a readout that only he could see and smiled a little grimly. "I assume he is still blustering?"

"He is claiming the facility and everything in it." Mace looked at his boss. "Um… He can't do that, can he?"

"No, he can't." Ricardo replied. "Oh, he can _claim_ it, but he cannot take _control_ of it. Whatever Kay did, I am the only one who can access the defenses. If I were to suffer some kind of accident, they would likely melt down. That would not be good for anyone within about twenty kilometers."

"He will try." Mace warned.

"Of course he will." Ricardo shrugged. "Even if we cannot find STC fragments…." No one had found any yet and Ricardo wasn't sure if they would. This place was a military storehouse, not a data repository. "...the sheer amount of military hardware in the bays is enough to make _any_ Astra Militarum General start to _weep_. For such a political animal as Gornal? This place is incalculable leverage, not tools for protecting the Imperium." The disgust in his tone spoke volumes. "I guess I better meet him."

"We don't want him anywhere near Georgia." Mace shivered slightly. The girl's rage had been almost as impressive as her mother's. If not for the Space Marines and Celestine, Georgia would have _succeeded_ in throttling the Lord Inquisitor. Non-militant or no, she was _scary_ when she got angry. Like mother, like daughter.

"No!" Ricardo agreed. Georgia stirred again and he paused in the middle of rising, but again Georgia subsided. He looked at the wall nearby and a screen flared to life, showing a space capable Valkyrie landing on a rapidly built pad at the surface depot. He shook his head as he saw Gornal stride off it, surrounded by Storm Troopers. His eyes flicked to the side, but he did not stop. He rose to his feet and strode from the room. Mace followed, but paused as Ricardo held up a hand. "Tell the others, Georgia is priority. Ward _her_ , not _me_."

"Sir!" Mace protested.

"You think I am vulnerable, Mace?" Ricardo asked as the Storm Trooper squad that General Sentars had seconded to him formed up around him. All of them were hardened veterans and all of them knew the stakes. If Ricardo died, this place would likely melt down. Even if they managed to escape that, the loss of such a treasure would not sit will with their superiors. Their lives would likely be short and painful.

"You do take foolish risks, Sir." Mace allowed. "He has to have a plan and without the others..."

He trailed off. None would say the names. Greyfax and Celestine were not to be officially recorded as present. Unofficially, Ricardo was appalled that they had left without killing the Magos or Gornal, but _officially_ , he was still Gornal's subordinate. However long that lasted.

"I know, Mace, but right now, _Georgia_ is priority." Ricardo sighed. "Not the _least_ of which because of what the Sororitas will do to us if anything else happens to her. But also because of who she is and who her mother is. Kay's enemies will come for her and we must protect her. If we don't… Kay will be unhappy."

"You really think Kay is coming back?" Mace asked as he took up station by the door.

"I don't know." Ricardo admitted. "But I do know _one_ thing. His Daughter scared the _hell_ out of everybody. Even _me._ " Rare for an Inquisitor to admit such, but totally true. Every one of the Storm Troopers nodded. They had seen records of what she had done and even Storm Trooper discipline had its limits. "Inquisitor or no, I am _not_ going to cross her wishes on the _off_ chance she is permanently dead this time."

"Probably wise." Mace smiled grimly and then closed his visor and set himself. It would take overwhelming force to get past him. Or an Astartes. Same difference. Of course, if _that_ happened they had massive other problems and so would everyone else.

Ricardo smiled a little as he started off, his escort following. The cavernous halls echoed with excited Guardsmen working to clear rooms and set up facilities. Ordinarily, such an undertaking would be proceeding at a glacial pace as tech-priests sang and spread incense or whatever all over everything. He had flatly refused to allow any tech-priests entry into the facility. The few servitors and spy drones that had tried to enter surreptitiously had been summarily destroyed by internal defenses. He didn't fool himself that he had caught them all, but he had caught quite a few and surprise, surprise, most had been Mechanicus designs. He had requested Inquisition techs and the response had been quick. The Inquisition as a whole disliked being reliant on the tech-priests so the Conclave had jumped at the chance to edge around them. It wouldn't last. The cogs were nothing if not sneaky about forcing themselves on everyone. He hadn't spoken to anyone of his talk with Kay about the Omnissiah, but such was never far from his mind. He had never trusted tech-priests, but that? He was worried.

" _Illusmar!_ " The shout came from the now open main entrance to the facility and Ricardo fought back a sigh as he saw Gornal at the opening. The Elysian guards there were blocking his path and the Storm Troopers with Gornal were aiming at the Elysians. Not wise. General Sentars had three squads with heavy weapons positioned to cover that entrance. That didn't even count the four servitor controlled turrets that were hidden around said entrance. More were secreted inside the walls of the facility and Ricardo was still finding them. Multi-lasers, grenade launchers, heavy bolters, flamers, missile launchers… The Emperor had protected his secrets well. And now? Ricardo pointedly did not look to to the halls that branched off to either side of the entrance.

"If your men open fire, it will be the last thing they do." Ricardo said mildly as he came to a stop just within the facility. The Storm Trooper with him also aimed at the men surrounding Gornal. If anyone so much as twitched, this would get bloody. "What can I do for you, Lord Inquisitor?"

As if he didn't know.

"You have duties elsewhere, Inquisitor Illusmar." Gornal smiled at Ricardo. "The Emperor thanks you for your service, but you need to leave. Now."

"I do?" Ricardo pursed his lips. "And I assume that you have someone in mind to take over here?" He did not react as Gornal smiled evilly.

"I will humbly take over the administration of this ruin." Gornal said with a nod. "I have authorization." He produced a scroll and held it out to Ricardo who looked at it.

"From the Mechanicus, no doubt." Ricardo did not move to take the scroll. He slowly shook his head. "And… Out of curiosity, what did they promise you?" He inquired mildly. Gornal stiffened as Ricardo's utterly disinterested tone registered.

"You have your orders!" Gornal declared. "Obey them!"

"I _do_ have my orders." Ricardo replied, still calm. "And _you_ were _here_ when I got them. I am not about to cross her wishes. _You_ shouldn't cross His Daughter either." His eyes went hard as a red robed form appeared in the hatch of the Valkyrie.

"You speak heresy!" The Tech-Priest declared stepping down the ramp.

" _Do_ I?" Ricardo inquired of the Lord Inquisitor, not taking his eyes off the tech-priest. "Guards? If that _thing_ sets a foot on the ground of this sanctuary, shoot him." The red robed tech-priest did not stop and Ricardo shook his head. "You are not welcome here, tech-priest."

"You speak heresy and you hold that which does not belong to you!" The tech priest started to plant a foot on the ground, but a lasgun flashed, the ground near his feet scorching. He backed up a step, his tone turning even angrier. "You _dare!_ "

"Not fair, I know." Ricardo shook his head as Gornal stared at him in shock. "Only you red robes are allowed to spout heresy, huh?"

"You will surrender this holy place and you will surrender the person of Magos Rebekah!" The priest bellowed. "Or we will send word to Mars and-"

He broke off as the shadows behind Illusmar came alive. Huge, hulking forms strode from the side corridors out to loom over Illusmar. All four Space Marines had weapons in hand. Their weapons were as varied as their heraldry. The Space Wolf bore bolt pistol and chainsword. The Dark Angel held a plasma gun. The Ultramarine had a bolter ready and the Iron First hefted a two handed thunder hammer.

"And _what_?" The Ultramarine said coldly. "You will announce to _everyone_ what your precious Magos did? _We_ know." At that, Gornal went white and Ricardo couldn't blame him. Four of the most powerful Space Marine Chapters knew the truth? 'Oh shit' didn't even come _close_ to covering that!

"Easy, Sergeant Grias." Ricardo held up a placating hand. "Kay would want us to at least _try_ and keep things peaceful."

"What is the point?" The Space Wolf snarled. His chainsword whirred for a moment and Gornal retreated a step. "You know what they will do just as well as we do."

"The _point_ , honored Astartes..." Another voice, softer, kinder, but no less firm, spoke up and Ricardo stepped aside as the _other_ person who he had been negotiating with stepped into view. Reverend Mother Malina was not a militant sister. She was one of the heads of the convent where Georgia had been raised. Ricardo had called for help when he had finally gotten Georgia to sleep and she had been in transit already with a full team of militant Sororitas to try and come to Kay's aid. They all felt shamed that they had been too late, but Ricardo had proposed an idea and they had retired to think it over. He hadn't heard their response yet. "...is that _none_ of us wish to cross the Emperor's Daughter. Do we?"

"No." The Space Wolf allowed. He did _not_ lower his weapons. Not that Ricardo expected him to.

"What…" Gornal started and then paused as everyone looked at him. "What is going on?"

"I had a thought." Ricardo said quietly. "This is a planetary defense center. This planet, this entire system needs help. They need the Emperor's Light. We may have lost Kay, we may not have. Only time will tell. I cannot hold this place all by myself, no matter her orders to me."

"So you _will_ -" The tech-priest started, but all four of the Marine readied their weapons and he shut up. Wise.

"So..." Ricardo continued as if there had been no interruption. "...I could have asked for Inquisition help, but I fear my superior is less than equal to the task that Kay laid on me. No offense to him..." _Ha!_ "...most anyone would not be equal to such a monumental task. That makes any support I might get from the Inquisition suspect. I know it is nothing personal,..." _Double ha!_ "...but if he orders them to betray me, they _will_." All four Astartes radiated disapproval. Gornal's face was furious, but he did not speak. "Also, Kay was Sororitas. The _best_ of the Sororitas."

"She would have denied that with every fiber of her being." Mother Malina said sadly. "Humble didn't begin to describe that dear girl."

" _Most_ of the time." Ricardo nodded at the mother and she smiled back. "So, I cannot do it alone and I cannot trust the Mechanicus. I _can_ trust the Sisters to do what they think is the Emperor's Will. I may not always agree with what they choose to do, but only a fool doubts their faith."

"Never for very _long_." The Iron Fist agreed sternly.

"So… What?" Gornal rallied gamely.

"Reverend Mother?" Ricardo asked as he turned to her. "Did you get a reply?"

"I did." The Reverend Mother's eyes were glistening. "They said 'Yes'." Ricardo sighed in relief and nodded to her.

"Yes to what?" Gornal demanded, suspicion rising.

"Inquisitor Ricardo Illusmar has asked my Order to built a convent here in this facility." Mother Malina said serenely. Gornal stared at her in disbelief and she smiled. That smile was not friendly in the slightest. "This world is the Emperor's and his daughter fell in battle here. This place must be returned to the Emperor's Light. There are faithful here." She said sadly. "But they are overwhelmed by the darkness that surrounds them. My order will built a chapel here in this facility and various orders of militant sisters have promised their support."

"You can't stay here. This planet isn't even close to safe." Wonder of wonders, Gornal looked worried for the Reverend Mother! A first in Ricardo's experience.

"We go where the Emperor wills." Mother Malina said quietly. "Kay would want this." Her eyes held Gornal's. "These Astartes have promised to protect us while our militant sisters assemble a force of their own."

"All four of your chapters?" Gornal asked, his face turning remote.

"Nine." The Dark Angel corrected him. Gornal stared at him and the Dark Angel shrugged a little. "My chapter, Ultramarines, Iron Fists, Space Wolves, Black Templars, White Scars, Raven Guard, Blood Ravens and Blood Angels have or are sending troops. Those were the confirmed ones. There are likely more by now."

"All of those." Gornal winced a little. "And… Who is in command?"

"That is being discussed by our chapter commands. They have decided on forming a provisional company. We _will_ protect the sisters here until the Sisters of Battle arrive." The Ultramarine said firmly. "No matter _what_ else happens, we will not let this planet fall."

"I see." Gornal shook his head slowly. "I was mistaken in thinking that Kay's daughter would be vulnerable here." Was he actually _sincere?_ It was hard to tell with that man.

"You will surrender Magos Rebekah!" The Tech-Priest said with snarl from the ramp.

"You should rephrase that." Mother Malina said quietly. "I am not a militant sister, but angering all of these staunch defenders of the Imperium will likely not be a good idea."

"You will-" The tech-priest took another step and the guards all took aim as the red robed being raised something to point at the Reverend Mother. The Space Marines all moved to ward her and Illusmar and raised their weapons. Before any could use them, the head of the tech-priest _fell off!_

Mother Malian sighed as she nodded to the white garbed woman in synthleather who had appeared behind the tech-priest and cut his head off with one clean blow from her dual swords. The Death Cult Assassin kicked the bolt pistol the priest had held away from his hand and then bowed to the Mother before vanishing back into stealth.

Gornal stared at the very dead tech priest and then at Mother Malina. He shook his head.

"You said you are non-militant." He said with a sour chuckle. "You _didn't_ say you were defenseless."

"Deception in war is permitted." Butter might not have melted in Mother Malina's mouth. "Only an idiot would come here without protection." None of the Space Marines or Storm Troopers chuckled, but all seemed amused. "As for the Magos? She is not here. A delegation from the 1st Legion came and collected her." She shuddered. "They were rather upset with her."

"You are definitely not an idiot." Gornal said softly. Then he looked Ricardo full in the eyes and spoke slowly. "I have been one. I will do my best to keep the mess from landing on the sisters here, but please boy, _try_ to keep from killing more of them?"

"If they keep pushing..." Ricardo said sourly. "...they will keep getting hurt."

"You know they will. Maybe my report added to others will do something. Maybe." Gornal sighed and waved at his men who relaxed. "I know when I am beat. Well played, Inquisitor Illusmar."

"This wasn't _my_ game." Ricardo said as he turned to look out at the horizon beyond which Kay's Titan lay. Some were talking about turning it into a memorial, but the Mechanicus of course were raising a stink. He had tried to explain to everyone that he had no control over the self destruct of that vehicle. Maybe they took him seriously? Maybe not. It was far enough away that if it _did_ blow? The facility would survive.

" _She_ won. Game. Set. Match." Ricardo bowed his head. "Well played, Kay. Well played indeed."

"You would have made a _hell_ of an Inquisitor."


	21. Chapter 21

**Epilogue**

Somewhere

Kay was falling though pain filled golden light. Every single fiber of her being hurt. The pain was centered on the arm where she had been shot, but it eclipsed everything. She tried to work beyond it, but it was everything around her. She _was_ pain and she was rapidly losing her mind.

She barely felt armored hands on her and then a solid surface underneath her. She could not see, could not speak, could not hear. When she tried to reach out to any machinery nearby, the cacophony of hate and horror seared her to the bone. She knew what surrounded her. Not Imperium machinery but the foul workings of Chaos! She was a prisoner of Chaos again. She knew her limits and she had passed them in her fight with Rashinos. She was doomed. They would take her and break her this time. They would use her against the Imperium and Georgia… She would never see Georgia again! Or worse, she _might_ _!_

She couldn't move. All she could do was cry as she felt movement.

"Emperor be _merciful_." The horrified words hit her brain with stunning speed and for a moment, Kay did not recognize the female voice. Then she _did_ and she screamed in her mind again as the female voice she hated more than any other continued. Lily! The Canoness who had burned her alive three times! "She is awake and aware! No! No, get her into the _bath!_ Now! We need to ease the burns or she will go into shock! If that happens, _they_ will take her! Quickly, you fools or we will lose her to them!"

Kay was still screaming in her mind as she started to slide and then felt fluid surround her. She couldn't move! Her Emperor given strength was useless when she couldn't move. Rashinos had found that out early on. He had done so many horrible things to try and get her to reproduce. She couldn't forget them no matter how hard she tried.

"Lady Kay." A male voice, not Lily's, spoke up from nearby. Kay did not know him. Did she? He was familiar. "We know you are awake. We know your fear and it is justified. You will not believe anything we say and good for you. Your wounds are beyond any tech or sorcery that any of us know of. You _are_ healing but the wounds you suffered are too grave. You will go die or mad if we let you. We must not."

Something was slathering over Kay's body and she could hear prayers. But...she knew those prayers. She knew them _well_! Someone, no, _several_ female someones were praying? They were beseeching the _Emperor_ for healing. In a _Chaos stronghold_? What the _hell_?

"You will hate us and we deserve it." The male Kay did not know was sad. "As bad as what the black shields of the First Legion did to you was, what we did was just as bad. You do not remember the years after you escaped from Rashinos' foul mobile temple. You were broken in mind and body when we found you. We rebuilt you and we strove to use you. While our methods were far gentler than Rashinos', they were no less pervasive. We failed and that is a _good_ thing." He said heavily. "Just like the Dark Angels, we did not know. Until we brought you to our sanctuary, we had no idea at all who you were, Lady Kay. When we discovered the truth? We were torn. We have to do what we do or the entire galaxy is doomed. But you are his _daughter_. A prize that any servant of Chaos would give his or her immortal soul for, because the reward that the Gods of Chaos would give them for _you_ in chains would be beyond imagining. But we could not give you to them. You are his _daughter_." The man repeated.

What was he saying? Kay barely felt the pain in her extremities fade as unguents that smelled so familiar soothed her hurts and the fluid she was lying in soothed the rest of her. She was scared, so scared. But the hymns, the scents, the feel. All of it was familiar. So familiar! Sororitas.

"You are wondering why this place feels familiar. It should. You spent almost five years with these sisters while you healed from Rashinos' horror, Lady Kay." The male voice was oddly gentle as fingers traced her cheek. They felt hard. Armored? "They kept you drugged and tried to put forth a persistent illusion of a normal cloister of the Sororitas. If there is such a thing. You saw through their deceptions so _we_ were called. We attempted mindscrubs, but they failed as well." He chuckled a bit ruefully. "You were a hell of handful. Now that you have ascended? You will heal even _these_ horrible wounds, Lady, but it will take time. Time that you will not be given if _anyone_ discovers you still live. The Imperium, the Chaos gods, xenos races, they will _all_ try to subvert you. To use you for their own ends. You would fight, it is all you know how to do, but in the end, as broken as you are, you would _fail_. You would break. At best, you would go mad and at worst? You would become a ravening monster like Horus ended up being and Abbaddon _is_."

That made no sense at all! Kay remembered the flight from Rashinos! She had fled across dark and ravaged worlds until she had found… She had… She sobbed harder as she realized her memory was wrong! Dark patches were stacked across what she could remember. She had been tampered with and never realized it!

"Don't cry, dear Kay." The male voice sounded upset now. An armored hand gently grasped her left one. Her right hand was numb. "It is not your fault. _Nothing_ that happened to you was your fault. The Emperor was interrupted before he could finish his work. You slept through the ultimate horror of brother fighting brother, of entire _sectors_ put to the sword in the name of power and greed. We didn't know until you came here who and what you really were. We learned. We let you go when you demanded it. We wiped what we could from your memory and let you go, but we kept an eye on you throughout your travels. It was hard, letting horrors happen to you, but we could not approach. You would have fought _us_. Now, however? Things have changed. We _will_ protect you." That was an oath.

 _Georgia…_ Kay begged in her mind.

"Your daughter lives." The man reassured her. Was he reading her mind? He chuckled. "No, not mind reading, that doesn't work on you. The only method that does work is similar to Inquisition non-invasive mind scanning. We could have hoped for your daughter to find a _slightly_ less dangerous job, but Illusmar seems a reasonably decent sort for an Inquisitor and the Space Marines are falling all over themselves to provide a suitable escort. He has made them choose a single champion to accompany her and the competition for that post is fierce from what I understand."

"He wasn't given a choice about the _other_ escort." Lily's voice spoke up from nearby and Kay went still as hate slammed through her again.

"Be silent, Lily." The man commanded. "She has cause to hate you and she is incredibly stressed right now. Any human would have gone mad by now from what she has endured. We must ease her and hearing your voice stresses her. You had no choice, but still… Get her resting place ready."

"Yes, Milord." Why was Lily calling this being 'Milord'? She was a Canoness, she bowed to none but the Emperor! What was going on? The other sighed and the hand holding Kay's left hand gave a gentle squeeze.

"You are very confused and you have a right to be." The man or whatever he was said quietly. "Lily didn't want to do what she did, but she had no choice. If you had stayed in that cloister, you would have seen things, discovered things, _remembered_ things that would have put _countless_ lives in jeopardy. Not just the sisters there, but _millions_ of others across the Imperium. She didn't want to drive you away and certainly not like _that_ , but she had to, so she did."

The pain was gone now and Kay basked in the lack for a moment. She opened her mouth and tried to speak, but something was in it! She panicked and the other soothed her with soft words and caresses of her left hand.

"No, no, don't try to talk." The man cautioned her. "We had to put a tube in to ward your breathing. You spent far too long in raw Immaterium before we got to you and we had to be sure there was no internal corruption. There isn't." He reassured her when she tensed. "The rest of your injuries are very bad, but you will heal in time."

 _How bad?_ Kay said in her mind and the other sighed again. _Please?_

"Your right side took the brunt of the explosion." The other said quietly. "Your right arm and leg are mostly gone. Your skull is intact, but badly burned. You lost your right eye. We could see your internal organs through burns on your right side when we pulled you in. Our Apothecaries were sure you would not survive to get here, but now that you have? We _will_ ward you while you heal."

Apothecaries? _Space Marines?_ Kay stiffened. Chaos around her and Space Marines! _Traitor Space Marines!_ She was tensing to do _something_ when cool numbness drew her in and set her down on softness. Whatever she had been given was powerful, her mind was fogged and all she could do was cry as the hand that held hers gave another squeeze.

"No, sister." The other was sad again. "Your fighting days are done for now. I estimate that the Fulgurite that scummy Inquisitor shot you will take at least a century to work its way out of your system. Until then, you are as vulnerable to death by many causes as any human. Combined with the blast and radiation damage, you will take a _very_ long time to heal. Centuries at the very least."

Kay fought with every fiber of her being, but whatever drug had been given to her was too powerful and she was floating again.

"You have no reason to trust me. Many reasons not to, sister." What had to be a Chaos Space Marine was oddly gentle and calm. "But we _will_ protect you now. You will be safe here. You will sleep until your wounds have healed. Then your brothers and sisters will ward you until you can take your rightful place at our father's side."

Kay struggled and fought, cursed and strained until one _set_ of muscles answered her desperate cries for compliance. Her left eye opened and for a moment, she was blinded by the golden light that shone all around her. She stared at the dark form that sat on the edge of the stone basin she was lying in. The Astartes' armor was green, but not Dark Angel's green. He wore no helmet. She didn't know him, but she _did_. Somehow, she _knew_ him.

"Hello Sister." Alpharius, _Primarch of the Alpha Legion_ said in a kind voice. "You need to sleep now."

She was begging, pleading in her mind, screaming for her father as dark forms in green armor stepped forward to drag her away from the bliss. Alpha Legion Apothecaries! They were gentle as they bound her ruined right arm across her chest, bandaged the wreck of her right leg. She couldn't move as they laid cool things over her face, They left her good eye free. Then they lifted her out of the soothing pool. She was trying to fight, trying to do _anything_ as she was carried through halls that seeped with malevolence. Her limbs would not obey her. She barely noticed through her fear that the malevolence did not touch her. Alpharius never released her hand as she was carried.

 _Please!_ Kay begged in her mind. _JUST KILL ME!_

"With so much Fulgurite in your system, you won't come back if any kill you this time, Sister." Alpharius said heavily as the procession neared a number of kneeling women in Sororitas armor. The markings were Order of the Sacred Rose, just like Lily. "I might have been so inclined. You have suffered _enough_. But Father commanded and I obey as I always have."

 _What?_ Those words stunned Kay and she was unable even to think coherently as the sisters rose and shoved something aside. A large metal rectangle that stood high enough to be entered. A dark hole shone underneath the lid and Kay felt new fear tear through her as she realized what the thing was. The Sarcophagus of a Space Marine Dreadnought! _A_ _C_ _haos dreadnought!_ Anyone who went into one of those went mad!

" _NO!_ " Kay managed to scream into the tube in her mouth as she was laid into the thing. She was still screaming as the connections were made and the lid started to close, but then it stopped and Lily's face shone in her view.

"Not a dreadnought, a resting place. I am sorry, Kay." Lily was _old_. She looked ancient and she was crying. "My life is forfeit for the pain I did to you. I stayed alive in the hope of paying you back for what I did. Now? I can. You can neither forgive nor forget, but someday I hope you will understand. The Emperor protects and he will protect you as he always has. Rest well, Beloved Daughter of the Emperor." She bent down and kissed Kay's forehead. Then the lid shut and the machinery activated.

Kay felt…

She was…

The darkness she fell into was tinged with gold and it was welcoming, not terrifying. It was so familiar that Kay was crying again but this time in relief as her father gathered her up and held her close to ward off the nightmares that would hunt her while she slept. She fell into oblivion soothed.

* * *

Ten minutes later

Lily stared at Kay's sarcophagus as servitors was lowered into position amongst the catacombs. In appearance, it was exactly the same as the millions of other sarcophagi that surrounded it. It would take a miracle or the Emperor to find her there. The Chaos Gods had no way of penetrating this area, especially now. She felt her master coming but she could not look away. She hadn't stopped crying since Kay had gone to sleep. She couldn't.

"It had to be done, Lily." Alpharius said quietly.

"I know. She wouldn't be safe anywhere else." Lily dashed her face with a hand, but that did nothing to stem the flow of tears. "The Emperor protects, and I… I..." She slumped. "I am ready."

"Come." Alpharius took her hand and led her up out of the catacombs. The two dozen Sisters who remained in the convent had gathered in the main chapel. They knew what was coming. Most had been crying. This mission had been harrowing for so long, but the horror they had done to Kay had been the tipping point. They had all known they could not continue. And now? Now was the time. Alpharius released Lily's hand and the Canoness walked to her sisters.

"We have done our duty. The sanctuary endured and our sisters who studied here will spread our task across the galaxy. She sleeps in hiding." Lily said sadly as she knelt. "The poor dear will sleep until her wounds have healed. Then and only then will she rise to serve her father again. The Inquisition is coming along with many angry sisters. None of us can be interrogated. None can know our service to the Alpha Legion." She drew her bolt pistol and nodded as the other sisters did the same.

The sound of crackling flames heralded the squad of Space Marines coming into view. Each held a flamer that they were playing over the beautiful trappings of the building that Lily had called home for so long. Burning the hidden Chaos markings along with the holy ones. Alpharius stepped back, his face grave as his armor shifted. One moment, it bore the trappings of a Traitor Legion, the next, it bore the yellow heraldry of the Iron Fists, the Sons of Dorn. All of the Space Marines shone in yellow as Alpharius put on a red helmet.

"You will be remembered, Lily." The Primarch of the Alpha Legion promised the ancient matriarch. "Not just for what you did to Kay. Your sisters of faith and fury are spread across the Imperium now and not even the Ecclesiarchy can corrupt them _all_. When this war is done, if any humans at _all_ survive, Kay will need sisters she can count on and _your_ order will provide them. Out of shame, out of need. You will redeem your honor, sister."

"Our honor is the Emperor's." Lily said as she put her bolt pistol to her own head. Every one of her sisters did the same. "We _live_ for him, we _die_ for him. Hydra Dominatus."

"The Emperor protects." Alpharius and all of his legionnaires saluted in the ancient style of the Space Marine Legions as Lily and all of her sisters pulled their triggers in unison. The legionnaires turned the flamers on the corpses and in moments all of the dead were burning. There would be no evidence found here.

He turned from the pyre and strode for the door, his brothers at his side. The convent would burn, but nothing further would. The fire suppression systems here were second to none but the building would go up. No one looked too closely at the squad of Space Marines as they made their way out of the burning convent. No one would try to put it out. Not if _Imperial Fists_ had set it alight. Not even a Sororitas convent.

"Should we leave a servo skull watcher?" His second in command of the squad asked as they marched away in formation.

"Not here." Alpharius replied. He looked up into the smog choked skies and shook his head. "They will not find her. She will sleep until she is healed, protected by the Emperor's proximity and anonymity."

All of the Space Marines turned to look at the massive wall in the distance. Even here, even now, the Imperial Palace of the Emperor of Mankind's walls shimmered. Holy Terra in all its glory and majesty.

As they made their way towards their planned escape, none of them noticed the golden form who stood upon the wall of the palace, staring at the burning convent for long minutes. If they had? They would have taken him for a Custodes, one of the guardians of the Emperor's throne.

They would have been _wrong_.

The transparent golden hologram was of a huge man with dark hair in golden terminator armor. His eyes were streaming tears as he stared at Kay's secret resting place.

"Again, my most loved ones pay for my hubris. Maybe someday, you will forgive me for leaking to Rashinos the information that you existed, Daughter. For making Cypher and his men ignore your pleas. For letting you be captured." The Emperor of Mankind's projection wavered as his focus was needed so many other places at once, but then it solidified. "We needed more of you and Rashinos was one of few who _might_ have been able to duplicate what I did. If he had managed as he claimed to be able, Alpharius would have pulled you and any progeny out. Instead, that scum was a sadistic fool and you hurt yourself and then escaped on your own. You make me so proud." His eyes went far away and he smiled a bit less sadly. "All in all? It was better this way. Even with idiot Mechanicus messing things up, they did a marvel themselves, so I won't punish them but so much."

"I have a _granddaughter_." He shook his head and his psychic hologram faded out, but his words remained.

"Something tells me things are going to get _very_ exciting around Georgia now if she is out of the convent for long and can start thinking about _boys_. Maybe a nudge here and there to see if your traits breed true? Maybe not. For now? Sleep, my brave Kay."

Where he had stood, words appeared inscribed in gold upon the stone in a obscure language that predated High Gothic called 'Arabic':بقية جيدا، ابنة الحبيب. انا اشاهد.

No one from the Imperium would ever know, but in High Gothic, the words translated imperfectly to:

 _Rest well, beloved daughter. I am watching._


End file.
